Metroid:Effect
by dragonridley
Summary: Cross between Metroid and Mass Effect. This is the story after Fusion, when Samus must once again face a threat to the galaxy, from Saren, and from the Reapers.
1. To Eden Prime

"_Years past since that fatal day on the B.S.L. Station._

_Destroying a hidden project conducted by the Galactic Federation, and destroying SR-388. To stop the X Parasite, and to stop the Metroids from returning. I knew what I did wouldn't be easily dismissed._

_My name is Samus Aran, I was born in 2152 on K-2L, one of the now deemed 'Successful' colonies. From what I recall, it was a beautiful world, one that humanity wanted as one of its own. I can't blame them. It was a lot like earth…_

_It was a mistake. A mistake we keep doing to this day. Too far away from safety, too close to the edge of the unknown. We were still relatively alone in the galaxy. We didn't know about the Space Pirates, or their violent ways._

_But they showed us. They destroyed the colony, killed nearly everyone, took my home, my mother and father from me. The head of the attack, the one who ordered the raid, was a Dragenus called Ridley. A space dragon, in ways. A simple raid. I heard the screaming, the weapons being fired._

_And I remember finding Ridley, and talking to him. Telling him it'll all be okay, his not scary, even through we look different, we can still be friends…tch, too stupid to even guess he was the reason behind all of the deaths around me. It only hit me after he killed my mother._

_I was alone, even if it was for a small time, it felt like an eternity. That's when the Chozo came. They had been watching humanity closely, even came when the distress signal went out from the colony. A doomed race coming to aid a child of a doomed colony._

_They wanted to keep out of human affairs, but Old Bird, one of their respected elders, didn't want to leave a child like myself alone in such ruins, it could take days or even weeks for a response force to arrive from a nearby colony or station. He chose to take me in, and at first, wanted to hand me over to the Galactic Federation, the force of the galaxy yet to be known to humanity._

_It was because of the Chozo informing the Galactic Federation of the attack on the colony that the Turians, one of the races that held a seat on the council, the head of the Federation, eventually took notice of mankind and kept a stern watch on them, and eventually causing a war, the first contact war, when the Alliance, humanity's army, activated a dormant Mass Relay, something the Federation had a law against._

_As for me, they refused to take me from the Chozo. I was left in their care. Eventually, to help me become more like their people, I was infused with their blood from my adopted father, Gray Voice, taught in their ways of reading, speech, combat and movement. A human bird, you could say. I didn't have the skin, the looks or feathers of their kind, but I could throw down with the best of them and eat and drink stuff that would probably kill a normal human._

_By the time I reached the age of fourteen, The alliance had grown rapidly, the first contact war long passed. I left the Chozo to enlist, wanting to get back to what I was born as, a human being, joining the military. The Chozo gave me a parting gift, something that I held onto and used for many years…the Power Suit._

_It was no more then a few months in I was thrown back in the Chozo's direction, Because of a rogue AI, Mother Brain, and Gray Voice. Something had happened on one of the Chozo's major planets, called Zebes, my adopted home, and they asked the Galactic Federation for aid, who turned them down. They turned to the Alliance, and I got dragged into it._

_We lost Zebes, and we lost Gray Voice, the rogue AI managed to succeed and join with the Space Pirates. But I knew I would fight again someday, stop that AI Mother Brain, and it's alliance with the Pirates, with Ridley. Untill that day, I remained in the Alliance Military, following the orders of a man called Adam Malkovich._

_He was tough around the edges, and wouldn't allow his personal feelings get in the way…we became close friends, along with his brother Ian, Adams, at the time soon-to-be-wife, Tamora Calhoun, one of his friends David Anderson, and a grunt like me, called Anthony Higgs. Sadly, Ian lost his life thanks to Adam, who had no choice but to allow his little brother to die during a rescue operation…something that has stayed with me since, that made me walk out from the Alliance, created a rift between me and Tamora, and made me become a bounty hunter, all when I was eighteen._

_My career as a hunter was, eventful, to say the least. In the five years that followed, I crippled the Space Pirates, destroyed the rogue AI Mother Brain, killed Ridley on numerous occasions, brought the Metroid bio-weapon race to pretty much utter extinction, along with a few others that may have been on the planets Zebes, Phaaze and SR-388, wiped out almost all of the danger known as the X parasite, killed off the species known as The Ing, removed an element called Phazon from endangering the galaxy, destroyed, accidentally or otherwise, 5 space stations, 3 planets and 1 'dark world' on the planet known as Aether, and finally, saved the galaxy a few times over from all this._

_The common folk take notice of what I do, but most of the time it's ignored or frowned upon by the Galactic Federation. Most of the Chozo tech I managed to find I had to sell off to survive. The amount those that were willing to pay before I sign up always seemed to change once the Federation got wind of whatever was going on or they felt the threat has passed and wasn't as worrying as before, thus the 'bounty' was lowered before I could retrieve it._

_After the incident of the B.S.L. station, which was being actively watched over by the Galactic Federation, I finally got their attention fully. Using the station to destroy SR-388 seems to be quite a wake up call. I had to though, the threat of Metroids being brought back and the X parasite was too much. I was assisted by an AI, given to me by the Alliance, called Adam._

_The Adam I knew before, my commander, had died in a previous mission, giving his life to stop the Metroids coming back, and gave me the chance to end the Mother Brain AI once and for all. _

_This AI that was with me reminded me of Adam before his death, so I chose to name it after him. It not only helped me destroy the space station, but it also confirmed the one thing I hoped wasn't true. The Galactic Federation had now twice, been trying to use Metroids themselves. As I departed the system that the now destroyed SR-388 resided, through the mass relay, I got a call from the citadel, the head station of the Federation, to come and speak to the council itself on it's 'worrying reports', where I was seen and reported to have entered the station prior to it's destruction._

_I knew they wouldn't understand what I did to save them. Adam tried to reassure me that one of them would. 'one of them must.'. I remember standing before the council in the citadel, and was asked what the Alliance had asked me to do, and for what price._

_I told them there was no price, as I felt I had to help the station that saved my life only a week before, when I was infected with the X parasite. My job was to simply find out what had happened to it._

_They pretty much damned me for what happened. They recited my previous extreme actions, and decided to revoke my status as a bounty hunter, and brand me as a criminal, a world destroying criminal. They wanted me jailed and kept under lock and key for, at the very least, several years for all that I've done. If it weren't for Anderson, Adam's old friend, speaking on my behalf, and managing to convince the council that I had also saved them and their people on these incidents, I think I would still be in prison to this day._

_What also saved me was at the cost of my AI companion, Adam. Once the council was noted about an AI onboard my ship, with no restraints on it, all hell nearly broke loose on me again. One thing the council hate more then world destroying criminals are free roaming AI. The hearing on me was briefly delayed, and when it was started again, Anderson, and the ambassador of the Alliance and humanity in general, Donnel Udina, both declared that it was the AI who had suggested it was on the Alliance's orders that I had to destroy the planet and the Space Station._

_I was infuriated at what they just said. I wanted to yell at them, say it was on my own decisions and actions to take out the station, but Anderson glared at me, his way of saying keep quiet. I silently raged at what they did, and when the council decided that my ship was to be fully dismantled and the AI terminated, once the meeting ended, I punched Anderson across the face, yelled at him, and ran off to get to my ship, to save Adam._

_I couldn't get to it. They blocked all access, and eventually, I had to be placed under arrest for assaulting at least seven of the C-sec police officers._

_I never saw that ship, or Adam, again. I couldn't save him. I lost Adam, twice now._

_I was let out by Anderson eventually, and given time to 'cool off'. he told me to go and rest at one of the human colonies, soak up some sun, don't think about being a hunter anymore. In exchange for agreeing, I had to allow the Alliance to remove my arm cannon and disable most of the power suit, including it's energy shielding, should I get any ideas on killing people whilst having a break._

_I also had to go by a new surname, to avoid any possible mercs or rival bounty hunters that might be after my head. I was pretty much the only Aran known beyond earth, and I hadn't made a lot of friends over the years. I decided on Shepard. Samus Shepard._

_I chose to go to Elysium. It was relaxing and had a decent day time span. A lot of people there knew who I was by my armor alone, despite it's distorted shape thanks to what happened on the B.S.L station, and I was treated as a hero of sorts by them, being offered free drinks on the house and the odd free meal in the restaurants…it's a shame it couldn't last before trouble found me. Space pirates, slavers and Batarian warlords had allied together to take down Elysium, to simply make the Alliance pay for it's pirate suppression operations. Me being present was an added bonus to them._

_Now I, lacking any offensive ability that didn't need me getting close while they unleashed a barrage of energy rounds, decided to rally up a resistance, using my name and my deeds, to fight back against them. Not only did the people fight back under my name, but we drove off the ground forces and held out for Alliance reinforcements to wipe out the enemy fleet in space._

_If I weren't a hero to all the people on this world, I was now. I was called a 'War Hero', given a medal, and even, with the help of Anderson and recommendation of Adams widow, a chance to return to the military. I didn't have to keep the new surname once I enlisted, but I soon decided to keep hold of it and make it permanent, when I suffered fits and constant vomiting._

_On the B.S.L., after I had caught the X parasite inside of me, they gave me Metroid DNA, from samples that came from the baby one I rescued years ago, to help weaken down and subdue much of the parasite infection inside of me. What they didn't inform me that the parasites could easily grow when my power suit is off as it was constantly keeping the Metroid DNA active inside me, which I never realized. When they said to me the suit was now a part of me and my survival, I didn't expect them to be literal._

_In 2177, They had to put me on the operation table when I finally turned paralyzed from the neck down by the infection, and with the guiding hand of Doctor Karin Chakwas and several surgeons, they removed my suit entirely, surgically carving out as much as possible. The scars weren't the most prettiest when I first woke up, but they did the best they could. They managed to integrate the Metroid DNA into my cells much better then those on the B.S.L. station, and even removed most of the X parasite infection._

_So now I was pretty much a mutant. Human, Chozo, Metroid and X genes all slapped into a woman's body. My power suit was lost, beyond repair, my ship was gone, and my bounty hunter status ruined. I wanted to make a new career, A new page, so I kept to Samus Shepard, and worked for the Alliance, under the eyes of Anderson once I pretty much sailed through the N7 program to get myself in a better shape after the operation, taking daily doses of painkillers to ignore the odd wave of pain surging from my central nervous system thanks to the X parasite, and taken a liking to alcohol. It helps ease the pain more._

_The scars have mostly healed over now. Some, of the worse ones are in areas that remain covered up, so no one sees them whilst I'm on active duty. My doses of painkillers have gone from four a day to two, and I'm now holding the rank of Commander._

_Now it's 2183. Anderson had himself and me transferred over to a prototype vessel known as the SSV Normandy recently. It's a joint vessel, created by the Turians and Humans. And for it's shakedown run, we're to head off to the colony world of Eden Prime. Sounds rather simple. But a few things bother me…_

_Why is David being so tense?_

_Why is there a Galactic Federation spectre, called Nihlus, on board?"_

* * *

Samus stood in the cockpit of the Normandy, it's computers humming quietly, the ship seemingly relaxed. She was looking out the front window to the stars beyond, listening to the pilot of the ship, Joker, and the co-pilot, Kaidan, talk about one of the questions lingering in Samus's mind.

Samus has become slightly paler after the operation to remove her suit, her hair now trimmed down to shoulder length, no longer being tied into a ponytail, and combed into a parting. Age was starting to faintly show on her face, now in her 30's, and was wearing black, built Alliance armor, with two white strips and one red one down the right arm of the gear, and with 'N7' being embedded into the chest area. She is carrying a M-8 Avenger assault rifle on her back, and an M-3 Pistol, a more or less alliance military standard pistol. Whereas most people kept to their normal uniforms whilst in the ship, Samus always wore her armor and kept her weapons with her, traits from the past which she refuses to let go of, should anything happen.

Just recently, the spectre known as Nihlus, a Turian, had been in the cockpit, and given Joker, what was pretty much a compliment about his piloting, saying the captain will be pleased, before leaving them.

"I hate that guy." Joker mumbled.

Kaidan looked over to him, raising his eyebrow a little. "Nihlus just gave you compliment, so…you hate him?"

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's "good". I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible! Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him onboard…Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment, don't you agree Commander?" Kaidan looked over to Samus for support, as she kept her focus on the empty space outside the ship.

Samus soon pulled her eyes away and look down at him. "His a Turian. Spectre or not, it's obvious his come to represent their people in this joint effort. Have you seen any other Turian on this ship?"

"No Commander."

Soon, the communication channel to the cockpit triggered, and the voice of the captain of the vessel, David Anderson, was heard over it. "Joker, Tell commander Shepard to come down to the comm room as soon as she's able. I need to debrief her."

Joker nodded. "Got it. Commander, did you hear that?"

There was no reply. Kaidan looked and noticed that she had already walked off, heading down towards the center segment of the ship. "I think that might be a yes, Joker."

Joker moved himself a little to look behind and noticed as well, before slumping back in his chair. "Could've said thanks at least."

"Ah don't worry about it. She's probably still getting used to being on a new ship."

It did feel a little strange, after serving on a destroyer vessel for the last five years, to being on a smaller, sleeker designed ship…It's crew count being much less, the engine being almost deadly silent. She felt a little more at home here compared to the last five years.

What helped Samus's move from one ship to another was having not only Anderson be here, but so was the woman who had pretty much become her personal doctor, as she saw her speaking to a young man with a blue alliance beret on, a corporal, by the look of the pins on his chest.

As Samus walked over, Dr Karin Chakwas, a woman in her 50's, with black hair slowly turning grey, looked over, ignoring the corporal next to her, Richard Jenkins. "Commander. How do you feel today?"

Samus gave her a small smile. "Regular day today doc. Had that tingling feeling down my left side again when I woke up this morning."

"Did you do the recommended exercises to help with that?"

Samus nodded. "Still doesn't feel like it helps much." She soon looked at Jenkins, noticing that his eyes had grown a little wider. "Is there a problem, Corporal…?"

He eagerly replied, saluting Samus in the process. "Jenkins! Richard L. Jenkins! It's a pleasure to meet you face to face! You must be Commander Samus Aran! The great bounty…hunter…" his happy eager voice died out slowly due to the responding glare he earned off Samus, crossing her arms whilst doing so, the moment 'Aran' rolled off his tongue.

Dr Chakwas just sighed deeply, knowing where this was going. Most of the younger people always got this off Samus.

After a few moments, Samus walked right up to the corporal, making him back a step back, quite worried, before she spoke in a harsh tone. "My name, Jenkins, is Samus Shepard. 'Aran' died years ago. Is, that, understood?"

Jenkins quickly nodded, as Samus took a step back, and begun walking off, heading to the comm room, her mood now foul.

Chakwas gave Jenkins a little reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you're not the first to start on the bad side of her. Give it a few months, and she'll be okay with you."

Jenkins, now sweating slightly after that, looks a little baffled at the doc. "Doesn't she like her, old name or something ma'am?"

"Let's say it simply reminds her of a lot of bad memories that she would rather not think about. She likes to not have reminders."

Soon, Samus entered the communication room, which was circular, with several hard metal chairs around the room, and a holographic screen on the wall at the back of it, showing right now, pictures of the farmlands of Eden Prime, much like earths own.

The one looking at the pictures, was Nihlus, a dark skinned Turian, with white face paint on, green eyes, and a black and red suit of military armor on, with an assault shotgun equipped on his back. He slowly turned and saw Samus walk in. "Ah, Shepard, I'm glad it's you who's got here first, it gives us a little moment to chat. Anderson just needs to sort something out and then he'll be here."

"What about and why now?" She looked at him suspiciously. "You've had several chances before during this trip, heck, I keep bumping into you, especially on the lower decks, when I leave the hospital room, and even sometimes from my own quarters."

"Mere chances of us meeting. I just want to ask you about Eden Prime. I heard it's quite beautiful, is that true?"

Samus shrugged. "I've never been and only heard stories about it."

"A beautiful colony world…" Nihlus looked at the picture again. "You humans have had so many colony worlds, haven't you? Very far reaching ones as well. You've been doing this since you first got into space. Claiming that their protected, safe…how safe are they though?"

"Most likely very safe. We carry some heavy firepower."

"But are you anymore prepared for the risks then you were when you first started? Is humanity really ready, especially after colonies like K-2L got attacked all those years ago? The council doesn't have to protect these far reaching colonies should your 'protection' fail." He looked to her as he said this, and her face turned dark from hearing K-2L. That was a direct reference to her.

Samus wanted to have a go at him, insult him directly for saying about her old home, when she heard the footsteps of Anderson, as he walked in. "Samus, at ease. Nihlus, I think it's time we talked to Samus about why you're here and what's going on."

Nihlus nodded in agreement. "She deserves to know, of course."

Samus turned and looked at her commanding officer. "I already had my suspicions Captain. So what's the big secret?"

Anderson looked at her for a moment, seemingly in thought, before answering. "This isn't a shakedown like we want the rest of the crew to believe. This is a covert mission. I take it you noticed the Normandy was using it's stealth module?"

Samus nodded. "Easily, the ship is a lot more quiet. I checked the system layout the moment we left the Arcturus Station…to be honest, I was checking for any sabotage. New ships often get targeted. And since this was a joint effort between Turians and Humans, well, I overheard some of those humans on the station that disliked aliens, thought they would mess around with the systems or take something. Although now with you, Nihlus…" her focus turned to him, glaring slightly.

Nihlus spoke to her calmly. "I was merely pointing out that colony, as it is one of the most known to get hit when humanity first started. I meant no disrespect towards you, Shepard. In fact, I have a lot of respect for you on surviving that ordeal." He moved past her, standing now next to Anderson. "A lot of spectres, Turian or otherwise, hold high praise of you. When Ridley was alive, those colonies that were attacked by him and the Space Pirates didn't have any survivors. You did, and you became a bounty hunter who beat back the pirates and brought calm back to a large sector of the galaxy…You're the reason why I'm here."

"Excuse me?" Samus looked at him oddly, then turned her head to Anderson, wondering if he could explain what Nihlus meant by that.

Anderson gave her a little smile. "Commander, Nihlus is here to see your abilities, evaluate you… the Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time, We want a longer role in interstellar relations and policies. As you know, Spectres symbolise the council's power and authority. There isn't a human spectre there though…at least, not yet. This is where you come in."

Samus wasn't sure if he was bullshitting her or not. "The Alliance wants me, of all people, as a Spectre? After everything that happened with me? I'm not exactly on the best of terms with the Galactic Federation. Why not one of our top military generals? Why me?"

"You've proven yourself countless times Shepard. It's finally time the council gave you the real credit you deserve. They know you deserve this, especially after all the trials you've gone through. Humanity needs you to do this."

"Proven myself in my prime days. I'm not the same as I were before. I need medicine to help me through the days, and my system is crippled by my own gene mixture."

Nihlus decided to speak up. "Maybe that's what you believe, but despite that, you proved yourself on Elysium, and the N7 program was childs play to you. You came out top of the class. you're still the same hero as you were before, no matter how much time has passed. We spectres could do with somebody like you in our ranks, someone we could all look up to. I personally put your name forward when we were given a list of potential people."

Samus wasn't sure to feel honoured by this. Spectre's were seen as the sort who should be out saving the galaxy from trouble, like she did back in the days. But back then, she had a power suit, she was young, fit, and ready…

"Give it some thought at least Commander. You've got time whilst we complete our mission at Eden Prime." Anderson reassured her.

"What is our mission there then?" Samus asked.

"You know of the Protheans, don't you?"

She nodded. "The Chozo were devoted to finding their ruins. Old Bird told me stories about how their technology came from them."

"Not only their technology came from them, Shepard, but all of our technology. The mass relays, the citadel, all of it comes from the Protheans." Nihlus responded. "And now we've found a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. We're to retrieve it and return it to the citadel for further study. Eden Prime lacks the research equipment to look this over."

"So it's just a pick up and go mission huh? Well that's good. Should be easy for you to evaluate my performance on watching people lift things, ordering them around and taking my pill in a few hours. That's what I mostly did back on the SSV Hastings." Samus's sarcasm was picked up on by both Anderson and Nihlus, with Anderson frowning at her.

Soon, Joker's voice was heard over the communication channel. "Uhh Captain? We got a situation on Eden Prime. Just got a transmission, You better see this."

The picture of Eden Prime was replaced by video footage, a recording from a troopers helmet by the looks of it, showing gunfire, and chaos, within a open green area of Eden Prime. The people of the planet seemed to be opening fire on an unknown army, several of the troopers fell, before the one who was recording this looked up to the sky, and before them, were four massive mechanical limbs, like tentacles, revealing themselves out of the dark, grey clouds, red electric currents flowing around, slowly coming down, before the recording ended with nothing more then static.

"That's it captain. All comm traffic just goes dead after that. Nothing." Joker adds. Nihlus, Samus and Anderson were all watching it. Anderson then ordered that the recording be reversed a little, pausing at the four limbs being shown.

His focus then went to Samus. "Seen anything like that before?"

Samus shook her head. The dark eerie blue appearance of them, the electric currents flowing around wasn't anything she's seen from her hunting days.

"Attack from an unknown enemy, an unknown vessel by the looks of it…We need to send a team in Anderson. We need to get the beacon." Nihlus didn't wait after that, turning and walking out of the comm room, but not before finishing with "Oh, and I'd say this is a perfect situation to evaluate you, Samus Shepard."

* * *

Samus found herself in the docking bay of the Normandy, standing before her, was Anderson, and with her, both in Alliance armor, minus the N7 logo she held, was Kaidan Alenko, and that young corporal, Richard Jenkins, both carrying assault rifles like her, and pistols.

Nihlus was close by, checking over his shotgun, as the Normandy entered the atmosphere of Eden Prime, heading towards where the Prothean beacon was suppose to be closest at.

Joker finally confirmed that they were reaching one of the two drop points planned. Anderson suggested Nihlus to scout ahead, and then for Samus and the two crewmen to essentially, back him up, meeting him at the Prothean dig site, where the beacon should be.

"Samus, keep your focus on this. We need that beacon. Finding survivors is not a priority. Is that understood?" Anderson reminded her, as Nihlus departed the Normandy, leaving Samus and the others to go to the second drop point.

"Right. If I see any people laying around on the floor dieing, I'll just ignore them." Samus answered flatly.

"You know what I mean. Don't go looking around! I need you to be at your very best! Is that clear, Commander?" Anderson spoke more loudly and clearer to make sure she got the hint that she needed to suck it up and be professional.

"…Understood, Captain."

"Wow, working with the actual Samus A-I mean Shepard…Wait till my friends hear all about this!" Jenkins said with almost squealing joy.

Kaidan smiled. "Well, if anyone can lead us through this and get that beacon, it's her. Ready Commander?"

Samus nodded, seeing the docking bay hatch opening again, showing the grasslands of Eden Prime, the red sky above, the faint sounds of gunfire, and as the Normandy landed close enough to the ground, she ran off it, along with Kaidan and Jenkins. All of them looked back, seeing Anderson give them a salute, as the hatch closed, and the Normandy took to the skies again.

Samus gave a sigh of annoyance, before looking at her rifle and sorting out it's energy thermal clip.

Jenkins was aiming his rifle here there and everywhere, checking if the coast was clear. Kaidan walked up to Samus, still smiling a little. "So...how's it feel to take the lead Samus?"

She looked at him, then at Jenkins, as he walked over, giving the thumbs up to confirm it was all clear for now. "Kaidan, Jenkins, let me lay something on you both before I finish loading my rifle. Elysium was a one off. I had no choice, I needed to rally support to survive. No weapons or Armor of my own. Most of the time people work with me, they don't come back. Watch your own six, I got armor, and I got a weapon."

Kaidans smile vanished, noticing the seriousness in her voice, as she finished checking her gun, and walked past them both, looking over to the distance, at a dig site, with a small train port nearby. "Okay, how about we just keep close behind you and not get in the way?"

Samus nodded to that. "Good enough. Alright you two. The mission starts now. Keep up or get left behind." she started to trek through the grassland, heading to the site, with Kaidan and Jenkins in tow, knowing that if they did lag behind, and got caught in some kind of ambush, she'd probably keep to her word.

A new mission, which was suppose to be simple…

Nothing was ever simple. Samus just wished something was for once.

* * *

Notes:

1. Just a little something I'm whipping up whilst my mind goes through the stages of getting round to Broken Universe and Lonesome Road. It's pretty much my head canon on Metroid and Mass Effect being the same universe, that Mass Effect is Samus's later years after Fusion.

2. It is a wise idea to know both series before going through this. If you know one and not the other, personally I'd say go play the other, but that's down to you.


	2. Battle of Eden Prime

Crouching down behind a small formation of rocks, blue energy shots blasting the other side of the stone, while she kept down on the other.

This had gone to hell pretty fast for Samus.

She could've sworn the dig site was only another 100 meters, and with the amount of ground covered already, that should've been easy like the rest. All they have left to reach the site, is an uphill area with rock formations coming out of the ground, a small forest area which she could see, then the dig site beyond that.

What was firing on her, and Kaidan nearby, were small navy blue aerial drones, five of them, with glowing blue neon lights. They weren't space pirate tech, she could now confirm. They were blocking the path uphill.

On the ground close by, in the open, was Jenkins. As she and Kaidan got behind the rocks and waited, Jenkins had ants in his pants, and quickly moved ahead when Samus said nothing for about five minutes. He only got three steps ahead of her, when the drones appeared, and gunned the poor sod down, rip right through his kinetic shielding and armor like nothing, several burnt marks on his chest and stomach, before he finally hit the floor, dead.

She was thankful Kaidan was smart enough to know to wait. He did look at her when Jenkins started to move, as if trying to hint she needed to say something, but by the time she noticed, Jenkins was a dead man.

Finally, for a moment, the little machines stopped firing, and she quickly lifted herself up, aiming her rifle over the stones, and unleashing her own energy shots back at them, blasting three of them down before the remaining two begun returning fire. Kaidan stopped them short with a light purple orb of energy from his hands, throwing it at them, and when it got between the two drones, it erupted with a brilliant blue flash, knocking them both out of the sky, shutting them down.

Samus looked over to him, noticing a faint purple aura around him which slowly faded away. A Biotic user. She knows about them, a little. Biotics are people exposed to Element Zero during their time in the womb, and have the element literally embodied into their cells. With the right implants put into them, they use their alteration in a form of psychic attacks or defence.

She knows it isn't really psychic, it's to do with mass effect fields, but she prefers to leave it at the assumption it's about using the mind instead of looking at the details. She isn't one, so she doesn't fully care.

She moved out from her cover position, and went over to Jenkins body, along with Kaidan, who noticed that Jenkins died with his eyes opened, and so did the respectful thing of closing them with his fingers, before looking at the damage done to the body, and turning to Samus. "They ripped right through the shielding. He didn't even have a chance….Poor kid."

Samus shrugged it off. "He should've stayed in cover. I hadn't moved from my own."

Kaidan gave her a baffled look. "That's your reasoning for him dieing? He was anxious and raring to go Commander, you should've ordered us to wait."

Samus sighed a little, before starting to walk on, Kaidan following. "You had some common sense to wait untill I moved Kaidan, he should've had the same… Still, we'll get his body to the Normandy after this. Arrange a funeral service. His deserves that at least, for trying."

"Yes Ma'am…"

They soon entered the small forest, the faint sound of gunfire being heard in the distance, from across the landscape. Samus noticed one of the aerial drones on the ground close by, riddled with bullet holes…close to a strange new creature. A machine creature of some kind. She stepped over and looked at it carefully. It had three finger hands and feet, slender looking, steel plated chest, a neck that was made of hundreds of wires, and a slightly long, elongated head, with one, what once was, glowing orb in the middle, a sort of eye…

"Geth."

Kaidan looked at her, surprised. "Geth? As the machine race Geth? I thought those things have stayed in the veil system for the last 200 years. How did you know about them and what they look like?"

"The Chozo knew of the Geth's creators, the Quarians. Had a better history with them then the Galactic Federation, at least they did trades. They gave the Chozo data on what the Geth look like and what they are. I found the info whilst looking on Zebes before."

Kaidan seemed a little surprised at that answer. "The Chozo seemed to know about a lot of things, didn't they?"

"Only thing they seemed to care about when I was younger. It took me a few years to get the idea of what they actually care about." Samus soon trekked on, heading to the edge of the forest, heading in the direction of the dig site.

That's when they both overheard much closer gunfire, followed by an alliance trooper, female, wearing a white and pale red armor, came around the corner just outside the forest, from a small rocky passageway, and run for cover, hiding behind one of the trees, panting, holding her assault rifle close.

What came around after her were two Geth, both holding dark blue rifles of some kind, with neon green lights on them, no doubt looking for the woman who was escaping them. When they noticed Samus looking at them, they quickly aimed their rifles and opened fire.

Samus easily took them down, requiring only for her to jump forward, land on her front, aim and shoot at their heads, blasting their light bulb for eyes, killing them instantly. She got herself back on her feet, as Kaidan rushed over, having only noticed what was going on after having been staring at the already dead Geth earlier. "Commander! You okay?"

"Relax. Little winded by my style of fighting back, but I'm fine." She looked over to the female trooper, who looked shocked at seeing Samus and Kaidan, walking over to them.

"Are, are you the reinforcements we've been hoping for?" She asked, the sound of being hopeful in her voice.

"I'm Commander Samus Shepard, this is Kaidan Alenko. We're here for the Prothean beacon. And you?"

The woman saluted Samus. "Ashley Williams. Gunnery Chief of the 212 unit stationed at the dig site."

"…" Samus seemed to looked behind Ashley, at the rocky passageway, then back at the captain. "So where's the rest of your unit?"

She sighed deeply. "Dead ma'am. I'm the only member left of it…I retreated when the last person in my team went down. I kinda hoped I'd find someone. Lucky for me you both arrived. Are there others coming to help?"

Samus shook her head. "There's…There were, four of us, and we're all here to get the beacon off Eden Prime. One of our team mates is a Spectre, called Nihlus. His working alone right now to scout ahead for us. The other, now dead, team mate, is back there." motioning back to the forest. "Got killed by some aerial drones. Geth, right?"

Ashley nodded. "Those things were pretty much the first wave, before the actual Geth came down from that huge monstrous ship. The horrible roaring sound that came out of it, the waves of those machines, and to top it off, the loss of communications as well…"

Samus reloaded her gun after hearing that. "You're alive Williams. Remember that. We could use you to get us to the dig site. The Geth might be after the beacon themselves, and I'm sure with the loss of your unit, you'll want to get some payback, right?"

The Gunnery Chief responded by reloading her own gun, feeling her confidence renewed. "Yes Ma'am!"

* * *

Beyond where they were, 20 meters away, was the dig site, on a small hill nearby it, was an outpost, with a few housing compartments, cylinder in shape, made of a metal known as Palladium. Close to them, was a few burning supply crates, and three tripod standing devices, with massive, long slender spikes sticking out of them, with a human body on each, impaled on top.

Samus could see the bodies from the dig site, which, to her annoyance, did not have the bloody beacon she was after. Around her, Ashley and Kaidan were about seven Geth, all either gunned down or blasted apart. Kaidan was busy asking Ashley if there is any way of knowing if the beacon was moved by the colonists as she was fleeing, or the Geth.

She responded to his questioning by saying it must've been the Geth, as she was sure she was the only one running through this area, not even bothering to check for the beacon as she went by. "Which means they moved it to either their ship, or over to the transport station nearby. it's about an extra 30 or so meters, so it won't be hard to get to and-"

Samus decided to interrupt her. "Williams, have you seen those before?" motioning at the spikes with the bodies on the hill.

Ashley and Kaidan both looked, and a slight look of dread crossed her face, as if she recalled something. "Yes Ma'am. I saw a few Geth put my team on those things when their lowered down. They just press a button, and the spike shots up, impaling them while they're alive…the screams and the blood…it was horrible. I think they're doing to any humans in the area that aren't gunned down."

"They're not humans anymore. Look carefully."

Kaidan noticed. The fact was these people on those things, had now a varied grey coloured flesh, blue light emitting from all over their bodies, from their eyes as well. There was bull brown wiring across their bodies, their appearance made them look as if they were humanoid robots. "What the…"

"I think those spikes must inject something into the bodies. Come on, let's go take a look." Samus begun heading up the hill, with her two allies following suit, when she got a call on the communication channel.

"Commander, it's Nihlus. I'm moving in towards a nearby transportation port. A fair few machines walking around, probably AI. Not sure, but I think they're Geth. I saw the dig site from a distance, noticed the beacon wasn't there."

Samus grunted in annoyance. "Thanks for the heads up. Could've told me sooner."

"Well I didn't expect you to get there so soon. I take it everything is going smoothly then besides the beacon? Any survivors?"

"Got one. Name's Ashley Williams. We lost Richard Jenkins early on, got ambushed by Geth aerial support. We're just moving onto an outpost. Seems to have something strange."

"Oh?"

"Spikes with impaled bodies on them, huge things."

"Spikes with impale-Oh no…Dragons Teeth and Husks."

This news came as Samus and the other two reached the top of the hill, and were heading towards the three bodies. She stopped dead, while Kaidan and Ashley slowly moved in for a closer look. "Dragons Teeth? Husks? I've never heard of them."

"It's something we spectres have encountered before in several locations with the Geth. It's been kept as top classified information. Don't get close to the things, the Dragons Teeth have a proximity setting that if living organisms get too close they'll activate the husks on them."

Too late.

It was like as if an electric shock struck the bodies, before the spikes started retracting back into the base part of the devices. The bodies twitched, and slowly got themselves off the dragons teeth, looking at Ashley and Kaidan, screeching, and then running at them.

Samus quickly aimed her rifle and unleashed a wave of bullets. "Nihlus! Speak to you later! Thanks for the late warning!"

Kaidan managed to use his biotic power to blast one away from them all, sending it flying and smashing into a nearby compartment, with a force that should've broken it's skull and spine…instead it managed to stand back up, getting ready to attack again.

Ashley found her gun being the only thing between one of the husks and her, as it tried to grab her. She used the butt end of her rifle to smash it in the face, knocking to the floor, and then holding down the trigger, firing as many bullets as she could at it untill her gun made a beeping sound, meaning she needed to change the thermal clip inside, as it overheated. The husk didn't move afterwards, it's head blown apart, with scorch marks all over it's body.

Samus had killed one of them with that first wave of bullets she launched, making sure to hit the head, one of the energy shots making a decent sized hole in it's face, killing it. She quickly aimed at the one Kaidan was dealing with, only for him to finish it off with his a pistol, three aimed shots to it's right leg, stomach then head.

"They took a few more hits then I expected with undead corpses." Kaidan pointed out, as he looked at the dead husk close by.

"They had a small grade of kinetic shielding on them. No doubt one of the things these 'dragon teeth' put on these people." Samus answered with, walking over to one the said dragons teeth, looking at it carefully.

"Dragons teeth?" Kaidan looked at her, a little confused.

"I was talking to Nihlus just now over the comm channel. He said spectres have encountered these before. His just ahead of us, at the transportation station. We should check the compartments for anything we could use, maybe clearer video recordings of the ship that brought these geth here, then go and join up with him."

* * *

Nihlus meanwhile, has just blasted the head off a geth that saw it's allies fall, and decided to come over and see what killed them. It was right in front of the metal crate Nihlus was behind, when he popped up and made its head into at least a hundred parts.

He looked around from where he was, and noticed that was the last geth hanging around the transport station. He suspected there might be a lot more around here, what with the fact the beacon could be around, but no. Ten geth, all dead. He felt a little pride in that fact.

He begun to look around the station, checking supply crates, tools, and only as he saw, and headed towards, a tramline, which had two supply trains waiting to go to the nearby station about 30 miles or so away, did he where footsteps behind him. Not the sort that was attempting to sneak around, but the confident sort. He quickly turned, aiming his shotgun, and just as quick as he was to aim, he lowered it, surprised to see who it was that was coming towards him. "Saren?"

The person who approached was a rather pale coloured Turian, his left arm was a much darker colour to the rest of him, dark grey, due to the fact it's cybernetic, with a good chunk of his torso being the same. His eyes glowed a light blue, replacements for his original eyes. This was Saren Arterius. His eyes and the arm did alert Nihlus a little, but he relaxed when Saren sounded relieved to see him. "Nihlus. I wondered who would have the ability to take these geth monsters without any trouble."

"Saren what're you doing here? I haven't seen you for a few years." Nihlus disabled his shielding, giving what the Turians call a smile, to Saren.

"I picked up the brief emergency transmission. I was busy hunting for pirates in the Terminus System when it came, so I decided to take it upon myself to come and sort this out." Saren walked past Nihlus, standing close behind him, seemingly looking out at the supply trains.

Nihlus gave a little chuckle, looking to the distance, knowing that out there, is where his potential choice for spectre could be. Saren chose him to be a spectre, and now he was choosing a spectre himself, time between then and now, with Saren being present, seemed a lot less. "You? Helping humans? You hate humans Saren, I'd thought you would rather let the geth have their way."

"I prefer to have humans suffer on my own terms Nihlus. What the geth are is horrible. No race deserves to face them."

"On that we can agree." Nihlus answered with.

"So Nihlus, what about you? What brings you here?"

"Me? I'm just here to collect something important for the Galactic Federation, and to also inspect a new potential spectre. Although I'll be honest, she doesn't need to even be watched. I'll just put in a good report and get her in as soon as possible. I even recommended her to be a spectre." Nihlus couldn't help but look at the sky, how blood red looking it was. The sun must be going down. He hoped that once the beacon was collected, he could spend a moment to admire the sun set a little. Wasn't often on missions he would come at a time like this.

"Oh? She's that impressive is she? Who is it? What species?"

"You won't like it." Nihlus warned.

"Try me, Nihlus."

"A human infused with Chozo blood. Formerly known as Samus Aran, now Samus Shepard."

Sarens eyes widened slightly. "Samus Aran…that's…interesting…and she's on this planet, even as we speak…"

Nihlus nodded. "Yep. I'm surprised they put her name on the list. I thought the Alliance would want her to keep a low profile after all that's happened. Still, having the Chozo warrior woman in our ranks is going to be a good thing. I just hope she's doing okay right now."

Saren slowly pulled out his pistol, which had been holstered in it's case around his waist, activating it.

"She's dealing with some Husks. Just found some of those damned dragons teeth."

Saren turned around, looking at the back of Nihlus' head, and aimed his pistol. "Don't worry Nihlus. She can look out for herself. She's known for it."

* * *

Samus heard the shot. She had just finished looking around one of the compartments, finding only a few dead bodies, and had just gotten outside. To say she had a bad feeling that out of all the weapons fire she heard today, that one, she was sure was a pistol shot, made her skin crawl.

Kaidan and Ashley soon joined up with her, noticing that she had just suddenly stopped and gone quiet. "…Shepard, you okay?" Kaidan asked.

"…We need to get the Station." With that, she begun to walk off, slowly turning it from walking into running, that bad feeling wasn't going away.

"Commander! Commander wait!" Ashley shouted, quickly going after her, and Kaidan following suit.

It didn't take them long to see the station…and the only flesh corpse on one of the crate platforms. There were several geth remains, but that's one body…Samus rushed down as quick as she could, heading right for it, the other two trying to keep up. When she got to the body, she knew who it was. One dead spectre. Nihlus. "Shit!"

Kaidan and Ashley eventually caught up. Kaidan was a troubled at seeing Nihlus dead. "Jesus…He must've been shot in the back of the head…someone must've managed to get behind him. Geth, maybe?"

"I doubt it. I heard one shot. If Nihlus had his kinetic barriers up, it would've taken more then one, which means whoever killed him must've somehow made him lower his guard." Samus bent down, looking at the body carefully, especially the hole in the head, the blue blood oozing from it.

Behind a few of the metal crates, she just, JUST, faintly heard something shuffling, making her stand up and aim her rifle at the crates. "Get the hell out here or I'll get my biotic partner here to blast the crates to flatten you!"

Kaidan frowned. Not what he expected from his commander. Ashley seemed to approve though. "That's right! Now show yourself!"

It was human. He stood up, raising his arms in the air. He was wearing a dark green shirt, black trousers and a grey bandanna on his head. "Don't do anything! I'm just one of the workers here! I'm unarmed! I've been hiding from those machines that came earlier!"

Samus lowered her rifle a little. "You're lucky. You seem to be the only survivor we've found so far that's not carrying a gun. I'm surprised you managed to keep a low profile this long."

"Yeah well, when you know where to hide to take a nap during work, you learn a lot of the good spots that no one looks for you at. I was almost caught a few moments ago, when this poor Turian bastard got shot by the other Turian!"

"Another Turian killed him? Was it a member of a squad? Did you get his name?"

The man nodded. "The dead guy called him Saren. They seemed like pretty good friends, chatting to each other about being spectres or something, even dropped the name of Samus Aran in their conversation before that Saren guy pulled out his pistol and shot this one right in the back of the head!"

Samus moved closer to the worker, looking dead serious. "Where did Saren go? Tell me, right now."

"He, he just went onto one of the supply trains, heading to the other station, where those machines took the that artefact we found sometime ago. The Prothean artefact."

"So his after the beacon!" She saw the spare train. "Kaidan! Ashley! We're going after him! We gotta get to the beacon before him!"

Once they got on the train, getting to its front controls and activating it, making it move and head off to the station they needed to be at, they saw it at last. The monster ship.

It was massive. The only reason they could see it now was because it made this, echoing, loud roaring sound, and the believed clouds that were around the area, begun to disperse, showing the grand vessel in all it's dark glory. It was close by the station they were trying to rush to.

The shape, best described, was like an upright squid. It had five massive legs that had been embedded into the ground, now closing together as the ship lifted off, with six extra smaller limbs higher up on the sides of it. It was a dark, dark eerie blue, with no visible symbols on it to show it was in aliment with any side. It's lift off sequence shook the land slightly, as blasts of heat come from it, scorching the ground it had landed on before, and finally, flew off into the sky, into space.

"Samus…You got a vast knowledge of alien ships, right?" Kaidan asked, after having seen all that.

"Kaidan. That's a lot larger then most ships I've seen during my hunting days, And I've seen nothing of that design before…" She answered, her voice showing the fact she was in awe of the ship. She has seen a lot of ships in her time, some crazy ass ones, some stupid looking ones, but never one that made that feeling of worry creep up on her.

* * *

They finally arrived at the next station, and quickly got off the train, heading up the ramps to the nearby metal walkways to get a better view…and then only to quickly hide behind a few of the crates left here as there was a few geth standing guard, who noticed the new arrivals quick enough.

Samus was the first one to get a few hits on the machines, taking down a couple, before having to get down again, as a few energy shots struck her shields, disabling them temporarily. She cursed the fact she REALLY missed her Power Suit right now.

Kaidan knocked three of them off the walkway with his biotics, sending them falling onto the track close by, frying them. Ashley picked off the last machine, that was carrying some sort of sniper rifle, as she realized when as she was firing on it to kill it, it fired one shot back that disabled her shields and singed her armor on her left shoulder. If her shields weren't up, her left shoulder would probably be missing by now.

As the sounds of the geth went silent, there was a new sound that had been going on during this, but only now can they hear it, four, faint beeping sounds, in four locations on the two walkways…one was close by to them. Close to Samus. She slowly looked around one side of the crate, and saw what it was.

A bomb. A huge one. With a timer on it, and a keypad with a small screen. She recognized the make of it. "Plasma bombs! They intend to take out the station!"

"Are you serious? We're not bomb disposal experts though! What do we do!" Kaidan was kinda hoping Samus would suggest to just get back on the train and leave.

"Relax, I've dealt with them before. You open the left side panel, break the red wire, the two whites, then the blue and finally the green one. That'll open up the cover to the trigger mechanism, which then you just yank out to shut off the bomb." Samus answered.

"…Can you repeat that?"

Ashley sighed in annoyance. "She said left panel, red, two whites, blue and green, then yank out the part which trigger the part that will kill us all if we don't! Let's move and find the others while she gets this one Kaidan!"

Samus heard them run off, while she slowly moved closer to this bomb, looking at it's timer…5 minutes and 17 seconds. Easy enough. She literally forced the panel open, and violently pulled at the wires, in the order she said, before the top of the bomb opened up, showing a thick, metal tong, which had been connected to all of those wires, close to a round glowing green orb of plasma. She ripped the tong out, causing the screen on the bomb to show 'ERROR! ERROR!" instead of the timer.

She stood up, looking around for the other two. Kaidan was close to the train they had come on. On a nearby crate, there was one of the bombs. Ashley was on the other walkway, looking like she found the third, as she was crouching down from what Samus could see, close to a heap of scrap metals placed together.

Samus listened out for the fourth, and just heard it, on the other end of the walkway she was on, which led out to the main part of the station, and thus to the lands beyond.

She sprinted her way across, leaping over whatever crates or bodies in her way, reaching the other end, and seeing the bomb, out in the open, close to the stairs leading to the main segment…

Which made her stop in her tracks, as she had turned her head to look.

The entire landscape beyond the station here, looked like it was burnt in a giant blaze. If there were trees, grassland, farmland…life…it had been incinerated. She could just barely make out the ruins of people's rooms, charred bodies that somehow survived, what she presumed, must've been where the ship took off from.

Close to the place where the ship left it's mark, close to the pathway that led into this station, was a rectangular shaped metal device, standing upright, glowing with an eerie green energy…

She quickly snapped herself back into focus, looking back at the bomb, and within a good ten seconds, had it dismantled. She was thankful she encountered these before, as it would've been a fast track out of this place.

She walked over close to the strange glowing device, as Kaidan and Ashley caught up with her. "Commander be careful. That's the Prothean beacon!" Ashley quickly pointed out, making Samus keep a distance from it.

"The beacon itself? It's active? Was it always like this?"

"It certainly wasn't before ma'am. These geth, or that Saren guy, must've activated it."

"…I see. I'll get in contact with the Normandy. Saren must've fled on the ship. We'll pick up the beacon for now." Samus turned away from the device and walked over to a nearby hand rail, looking over the damaged land, whilst getting in contact with the Normandy.

Kaidan looked at the beacon with Ashley for a moment, before Ashley went over to join Samus, leaving Kaidan to stare at it. "An actual Prothean beacon…"

He got curious, he heard Samus talking over the comm link, then speaking to Ashley about if she knows the rest of the colony is okay or not, and whilst they were chatting, he moved a few steps closer, staring at the beacon intensely…before he realized that it was glowing slightly brighter, and before he knew it, an energy emitting from it, some sort of invisible force, latched onto him, dragging him closer.

Samus had turned to look to him at that moment, as she was about to tell him to get over to where she was, but instead found herself running over to him, noticing the fact he seemed to be getting pulled closer to the beacon against his will, grabbed him around the waist from behind, pulling him back a little, before, with all her strength, throwing him aside, managing to stop the beacon's energy effecting him.

The beacon now had her in its sights, latching onto her with more of a force then it did with Kaidan, dragging her closer, whilst she tried to fight it with all of her might. She was like a tug of war, but whereas it was just her against a hundred people, with the rope tied around her stomach and back. She was straining every muscle she had to get away from it, pain stinging through her body, making it harder for her to fight back. She cursed her luck, of all the times the infection would act up on her, NOW it had to…

Ashley had gone over to quickly check Kaidan, and noticed he was a little dazed but okay, before she looked over to Samus, seeing her get pulled up right next to the beacon, before being lifted by into the air before it, arms wide, legs dangling, trapped in it's powerful force.

"COMMANDER!" Kaidan managed to focus enough to see what's going on, and tried to force himself up to go and help Samus, only for Ashley to stop him. "Kaidan it's too late! We might get caught up in it too!"

To Samus, Eden Prime was gone. Her eyes forced shut, her whole body twitching, as images begun to flash in her mind, dozens of images, of machines…of slaughter…death…war…

Faint whispers flowed into her mind with force, images of unknown worlds and locations, species and technology, feeding from the beacon to her brain, sheer pain coursing through her. She saw a race, moments of them being slaughtered, machines tearing through their flesh, galaxies burning…but as the images repeated to her, over and over, faster and faster, the whisper continuing, one single voice stood out, one from a father, an adoptive father from the Chozo, spoke clearly to her, his last words to her so many years ago…

"_Samus, I leave the rest to you. You have become strong, so strong. Samus I know that your fate is harsh, but, though this will be hard for you, there are many people in the universe who need your strength, I want you to save them, be it only one or many, I want you to help them, this is my request. You have become strong...my child…"_

The last image that came to her mind, was of him…Gray Voice…

The beacon exploded in a wave of green energy, sending Samus flying back, smacking into the ground, right on her back, rolling slightly, before coming to a stop, slumped over on her side, not moving.

"Shepard!" Kaidan and Ashley both ran over, Kaidan checking Samus for a pulse, before getting in contact with the Normandy.

To Samus, all she could see in her mind, from the darkness, was her standing with Old Bird and Gray Voice, her being no more then 5 years old, pointing out to them a picture she drew on a Chozo sculpture wall, of her and them, with a small sun next to them…The way Old Bird smiled about it, and Gray Voice frowning…she knew he cherished it deep down, he admitted it…she missed him so much…before she knew it though, Old Bird disappearing from beside her, and when she turned to look, Gray Voice began to vanish into the darkness as well.

* * *

"Gray Voice….Don't leave me, please…" Samus weakly croaked out of her mouth.

"She's starting to come round. Ashley, inform the captain at once." Samus recognized the voice. Dr Chakwas.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, finding herself looking up at the dark ceiling of the Normandy's medical bay, a few small white lights shining down on her, before she forced herself to sit up, and move her legs off the bed, planting them down on the floor, facing to where the voice had come from. Pain shot through her for a few moments, making her know she must've been out for a little while, missing her due time for a painkiller. Once her eyes fully focused, she saw Chakwas, smiling in relief.

"Commander. How many more times will I have to find you on one of my medical beds?" Chakwas jokingly asked.

"W-what happened? How did I end up here? What happened to the beacon?"

She heard another voice answer that for her, Kaidan, in his blue leather uniform. "The beacon is destroyed Shepard. It exploded after…whatever it did to you, you were flung back and hit the floor pretty hard. We couldn't wake you, so Ashley and myself lifted you and helped you back on the Normandy when it came to pick us up. It's been two days since then."

Samus shook her head slightly, holding it with her hand a little. "What, what happened with Eden Prime? The colonists?"

"The planet is okay now. The geth retreated along with the ship, and Saren. The colonists in the sector we were in? …A lot of them died, around 20,000, but the Alliance is sending assistance. Shouldn't take no more then a week for them to get there. The colonists should be okay untill then. They're just…sorting out their dead."

Samus went silent, looking at her legs, obviously thinking.

"…I wanted to say sorry. For what happened to you. You pulled my ass out of the fire and got burned yourself, so to speak. I didn't expect that beacon to do what it did, me getting close must've triggered a self defence it had, and it would've got me if you didn't act fast enough…I'm, glad your okay, and I'll try to not be so curious the next time Shepard." Kaidan gave her a little apologetic smile.

She looked at him in response with a very, very annoyed look, forcing herself off the bed, and turning to face him. "That was foolish and careless of you Alenko. All three of us had no real idea what it does or what it's for. You should've kept your distance. Do that again and I'll make sure you get spaced from the Normandy, are we clear?"

He quickly wiped that little smile off his face, looking serious and saluted her, not wanting to anger her any further, as she sounded damn serious. "Yes Commander. Sorry Commander."

Samus folded her arms afterwards, looking at him sternly. "…And thanks. For getting me back here."

"Commander, there was something I noticed. While you were out, a fair few times you would rapidly move your eyelids, a sign of dreaming. I take it must've been about your past, with what you said when you were waking up?" Dr Chakwas asked.

Samus looked at the doctor, and recalled the dream she had…the vision, she had. "It was more of a nightmare then anything…I saw…images, horrible images, faint, distant screams. While seeing the images I overheard my adoptive father, his last words came back to me. These images I saw weren't from my past though. These were…I'm not sure what they were, but it was when I was caught in, whatever the beacon did, they flashed in my mind."

"Interesting. Perhaps the beacon stored information that was transmitted into your mind…"

The footsteps of Anderson entering the medical bay were heard, as he walked up to where the other three were. "Chakwas, how's the commander? She alright?"

"Besides a small bruising to her back, and probably needing something for the normal issues she has, she's fine." The doctor then went over to a small metal cabinet nearby, and got out a white and red box, opening it, and opening something inside of the box, before pulling out a small, white round tablet. She went over to a nearby sink, got a plastic cup, filled it with water, then passed the tablet and liquid to Samus, who quickly swallowed the medicine, and the water.

Anderson smiled in relief. "That's good to hear. Now, if you and Alenko don't mind, I need to speak to the Commander alone."

Chakwas gave Samus one more smile, before she and Kaidan departed. Anderson turned to face Samus, looking her up and down. "Well…This hasn't precisely kicked off to a good start, has it? My officer gets tossed like a rag doll, an attacked colony, the geth, Saren as a possible suspect, one destroyed beacon and one dead spectre."

She sighed. "No sir. It hasn't."

"The Galactic Federation…the council itself, will want answers as to why their spectre is dead Samus."

"Saren did it. One of the transport workers saw him do it."

"We already got his confirmation on that, but I know the council, that alone won't be enough to accuse Saren. His a spectre himself, and the one who brought Nihlus to them in the first place."

"Obviously he also placed the bombs close to where the beacon was, planning to destroy it before it…did that, to me."

Anderson looked at her with curiosity. "What did happen Samus? What did the beacon do to you?"

She explained what she saw, the vision, the brief images, the signs of death, and war.

"Strange…Very strange…As for Saren, do you think he might've seen this as well? Do you think he led the geth on this attack on the colony?"

Samus nodded. "I'd bet everything on it. Why else would he kill Nihlus? Why else would he be there? Can't have been sheer luck he was on a murder rampage whilst the geth attacked."

"I agree. No doubt he did this just to attack us humans."

"You know Saren?"

"I know he hates mankind. Not exactly a secret to those that have heard of him…problem is that, as I said, his a spectre. He can easily deny everything…unless we can get his spectre status revoked. Much like how the council removed your title as a bounty hunter."

Samus frowned. "Oh great, the same council who not only revoked my bounty hunter status, but wanted me arrested for destroying a planet."

"You had no choice remember. The X parasite was dangerous. What you did was something I would've done in that same situation. The council can't understand it like we do." Anderson knows that time was still bitter to Samus. Despite the years that pass, she can never get over those few days in the citadel.

"So I was made a scrape goat, lost the only things that mattered to me at the time, and Adam was made to pay for it all."

"It was an AI Samus, an AI who had control of your ship. It was too dangerous, They had to terminate him...it wasn't Adam, Samus. Adam died on the Bottle ship, remember?" Anderson tried to put a hand on her shoulder to give support.

She shrugged it off, moving off the med bay bed. "I won't argue with you again about that David. I know who it was. I know who suggested to me the way to destroy that station, Who you allowed to take the fall for me…I'm going to my quarters to rest up, contact me when we get to the citadel." With that, she took her leave, with Anderson only answering with "Of course, Commander."

As she left, there was Kaidan, leaning near the door, nodding and smiling at her a little. "Hey Commander. Can I just ask you something quickly?"

Samus looked right at him. "Two minutes. Then I want to get some rest."

"Are you…uncomfortable with giving orders in a dangerous situation Commander? It's just it was rather obvious during our mission on Eden Prime, ya know?"

"...I expect common sense from everyone. You don't need orders."

Kaidan shrugged. "Someone's gotta give'em. It's how the chain of command goes."

"I don't. Orders mean deciding what happens to others. I've seen what happens when people give out orders during certain moments where someone's life hangs onto you." She started walking away, she didn't want to continue this subject.

"So? If you don't, people end up like Jenkins."

Samus stopped for a moment, looking back over her shoulder to Kaidan. "...Anderson gives orders. Untill his ever relieved, I'm content to not giving any in those situations."

With that, she headed to her quarters. She needed a shower, some food, and a bed without people looking over her…hopefully having dreams that don't include her past again.

* * *

The citadel.

A Space Station built to carry a civilization, with five 'arms' that carry cities, a mass effect energy field to keep it constantly revolving to maintain a level of gravity for life on it, and enough Turian warships and Asari vessels to be seen as the largest armada around.

The arms of the citadel are all connected to a circler central point, which houses the Presidium, which is essentially the place for politicians, ambassadors and the rich and famous. With it's own blue sky inside the metal ring, fresh, clean water, it was pretty much a utopia. In fact, the entire citadel was seen as that.

The Presidium also housed the council, the head of the Galactic Federation. If there were any galaxy wide threat, they would be the ones to decide the course of actions for most of the other species, and their own. The council members were of three races. Turian, Asari and Salarian. Humans, Volus, and many others were allied races, seen as second class to the three main ones. Those that couldn't agree to the Galactic Federation terms of an alliance, such as the Batarians and Chozo, were regarded as outsiders. They were welcomed on the citadel, but rarely would they ever get a chance to see the council after refusing to join their ranks, and if they were under attack, the Federation's council could easily turn a blind eye to it.

It was on this Presidium, in one of it's many luxurious offices, was where Samus was. She, Kaidan, Ashley and Anderson were standing at the balcony of the office, looking around at the place, it's massive lake of water, the statues placed close to it, the plantations, the sky…all waiting for the ambassador of Humanity, who Anderson had gone to, to sort this all out, was busy speaking to the council via holographic communications. The three councillors, a Turian named Sparatus, an Asari named Tevos, and a Salarian named Valern, were all quite unimpressed with the man before them, a male that looked well into his 60's, with grey hair, brown skin, a wrinkled face, brown eyes, wearing a white and beige coloured uniform. Donnel Udina.

"The fact is Eden Prime was attacked! I demand you take action!"

Sparatus glared at Udina. "You are not in a position to demand anything, Ambassador Udina."

Tevos tried to calm him down a little. "You must remember that it was up to humanity to choose to try and colonise on the borders of the Terminus system. We had warned you about this before."

"And what of Saren? Are you just going to ignore a rogue spectre then?" Udina argued.

Sparatus was quick on the defence about him. "Saren is our most respected Turian spectre. He shall speak for himself during the hearing, not before. If you have anything else to add, you can do so when the hearing starts."

Tevos finished by the brief chat. "I'm sorry we can't really speak anymore on the matter before it. We will speak again soon." With that, they disconnected the call, the three holographic figures of them disappearing.

Udina cursed under his breath, as Anderson noticed the call was finished, and motioned Samus and the other two to follow him as they went over to Udina. "Ambassador. I take it the council aren't being helpful?"

"Of course not. This is Saren we're talking about. Their favourite tool in the spectre department. They won't just accept any claims of him possibly going rogue and attacking other spectres."

Samus sighed in pure annoyance. "I swear, if I had my power suit I'd damn those bastards and chase after him right here and now instead of trying to get them to dismiss his rank…Hell I'll go now if you want. Give me a rifle and a ship, and I'll hunt him."

Udina frowned at her. "You've done enough already Samus. You're not popular with the council as it already is, and your chance at being a spectre has been jeopardized thanks to Nihlus being killed and the beacon getting destroyed."

"I can't vouch for the beacon, but I can for Nihlus. That wasn't her fault. Saren killed him, that's the truth." Anderson spoke in Samus' defence.

"Well you better hope that's enough to convince them Anderson. And as for you, Samus, when the hearing starts, I suggest you keep your calm and do not go into another fit of rage like last time we were there. Your assault on Anderson and several C-Sec officers was something that stayed in the media for some time, and I doubt the council have forgotten it anytime soon."

"Heh, I swear my jaw still hurts from that punch of yours commander." Anderson joked.

Samus didn't take it. She just wanted to get this over with. She wanted to deal with this Saren, and hopefully then go about and sort out this…vision, the beacon left with her.

All five of them soon left the office, and headed to the centre point of the Presidium, the council tower itself, within the place, once they entered, were beautiful blooming trees of all colours, several small water fountains, and at the height of it all, a long, metal walkway, leading to the hearing point, as beyond it, where three computer consoles, where the three councillors stand.

It was on their way up, after climbing a set of stairs, close to a water fountain, stood two Turians. One was wearing blue and black suit of armor, with grey skin, which had a small amount of blue face paint, green eyes, with a blue holographic visor over one eye, and the other wore a black and light set of overalls and trousers, black skinned with white face paint on him.

The one in the armor sounded desperate. "Look, I know I'm almost onto something with Saren. Can't you just stall the hearing for a little while? Several hours isn't enough to look for evidence!"

The other one shook his head. "You can't just stall the council. I'm sorry, but your investigation is concluded. You've been given the time needed to check the databases." with that, he walked off, down the stairs, past Samus and the others.

Udina didn't stop to listen to this, he went off ahead, as did Anderson. Samus, Kaidan and Ashley were about to, when the other Turian saw them, and waved a little at Samus, before coming over, as she stopped. "Samus Shepard? Previously Samus Aran? Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec Investigation Division. I've been tasked with trying to find evidence of Saren going rogue."

Samus looked at him oddly. "Vakarian? Wait a minute didn't I hit you before six years ago?"

Garrus smiled, giving off a small chuckle…well…as much as a Turian can smile with their mandibles. "No, that was my father Samus. Two weeks before he retired. according to him the famous human bounty hunter who broke down the size of the space pirates and wiped out the threat of the Metroids, smashed him across the face with her arm cannon. Damaged a fair bit of his jaw, had to be put in the hospital for those two weeks."

"Yeah...I don't regret that." Samus remembered now, the jerk off that was Garrus' dad grabbed her arm, unfortunately, for him, it was not her arm cannon, and she responded to him grabbing her, with violence. She knows it was him as that was the only person she hit across the face with her arm cannon…the rest felt it in their stomachs or backs.

"I don't expect you to. Hell of a shot, he didn't expect females of the human species to be able to give that much of a swing."

"Well if you see him, say hello to him for me. So, did you find anything on Saren?"

Garrus shook his head. "Unfortunately no. The Turian ambassador didn't give me much time, and everything on Saren is classified, so even if I did have the time, the chances were slim that anything we could use to get him dealt with, would be small. But still, I wanted to try. Sorry. Good luck with the hearing though, I'll still be trying to find evidence regardless."

"Alright, thanks." with that, Samus walked on, with Kaidan and Ashley both saying farewell to Garrus as they went by.

* * *

Kaidan and Ashley now were waiting down the last set of steps that led up to the place of meeting the council. On the walkway, was Samus, Udina and Anderson. The three councillors were at their consoles, and a holographic image, of Saren himself, was nearby them, looking quite disinterested about what was going on.

It had been half an hour of trying to convince the council, but they were just stone walling everything.

"We have a witness that saw Saren kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina was trying his hardest not to lose his temper.

The Salarian Valern shook his head. "One traumatised worker, based on your words alone, is hardly compelling evidence Ambassador."

"Let's not forget, that the geth were present on Eden Prime, according to the reports that I've gathered. No doubt the geth killed Nihlus, probably as he was speaking of me to someone, and the poor workers mind produced something entirely wrong." Saren spoke, sounding bored.

"I know you Saren. You would gladly side with something like the geth in order to get your way with humans. Nihlus was just a stepping stone in your goal." Anderson gave Saren a hateful glare.

He responded by chuckling, darkly. "Ah, Captain David Anderson. Of course, if there is any allegations towards me, it would be led by you. Still bitter about 20 years ago and your inabilities?" He then looked to Samus. "And this must be the once legendary bounty hunter who you've taken under your wing. Samus Shepard now, isn't it? I used to have some of the utmost respect for your accomplishments, for a human, anyway."

Samus chose to ignore him, looking to the council instead. "So what? You'll just accept his word? Abandon the human colonies to be his playthings like you abandoned the Chozo to the pirates?"

Whoa did that get Sparatus' attention. "You cannot blame us for the fate of the Chozo. They had chosen to be isolationists, and only run to us when they felt like it. They refused to be part of the Galactic Federation, and even after that, we Turians had tried to maintain a close alliance with them, they were a neighbouring race to us after all. But they never wanted to trade anything, and always tried to find ways to keep off-worlders away from their planets. We extended the hand of friendship, and they pushed it away constantly."

Saren smirked. "The Chozo were fools Samus. They had their chance. At least humans have the sense to accept hand outs from the Federation."

Samus briefly looked at him, then back at the council. She knows he was trying to get under her skin. "You need to allow your investigators more time to look over Sarens records. I was there on Eden Prime, I could tell that the worker wasn't just making things up, and the bombs were a sign that Saren here waited to remove all evidence of him being there, including the beacon."

"You mean the same beacon that was destroyed by you? What? Wasn't the destruction of other property of the Federation enough for you? The B.S.L. Station? The Bottle ship? If I recall you even listened and obeyed an unshackled AI with the B.S.L…"

Samus locked eyes with him. Her voice rising along with her temper. " Adam did not order me Saren! He suggested it, and I did it in order to stop the X parasites!"

The council members looked at each other, surprised with the AI having a name. Udina quickly turned to Anderson, who stared in horror at Samus for letting that slip.

Saren worked with this. "Adam? As in based on the name of your once commanding officer, Adam Malkovich? How interesting, you named him after your deceased CO. the same man who allowed you to cripple all the research projects on the bottle ship. A very affectionate attachment to an AI, wouldn't you say so Samus?"

"It was Adam himself! Remade into an AI! He helped me stop the parasites from attacking the rest of the galaxy you ugly sonnova bitch! Adam would run your ass through for all this! He would-"

Anderson had to step in. "SAMUS ENOUGH!"

She stopped, looking at Anderson now, seeing he was angered by her. She didn't notice the fact the council was talking amongst itself, and Udina was face palming…it then dawned on her that the fact the AI was named after her old CO was never mentioned before.

"Samus I want you to leave! Wait with Alenko and Williams! You're dismissed from this hearing!"

"Anderson-"

"That is an order!"

Samus knew at what point when to not push it any further, and simply saluted Anderson, before she turned and walked away…pretty much actually stomping her way off the walkway, her boots hitting the floor, echoing in the hall.

She didn't have to wait long for the other two. Udina and Anderson soon returned to Kaidan, Ashley and Samus. Udina looked mortified. "I knew it was a mistake bringing you and Samus to that hearing Anderson. Samus can't keep her mouth shut, and you have too much history with Saren. The council want to have a word with me in my office about 'Adam' shortly. I'm going to pass it off as the AI perhaps tricking you into thinking it was him on purpose to convince you to work for it. You'll owe me for this one, woman."

Samus didn't give him an answer, instead looking to Anderson. "Why didn't you tell me you know of Saren? You both seemed to be well acquainted, more then just knowing him by information alone."

"I'll speak about it when I'm ready Samus. For now, the hearing is closed. Unless we find actual proof Saren was on Eden Prime, attacking the colonists or going after the beacon, then we may as well pack up and go home."

"And how are we suppose to do that? I mean, the only guy around here who's supporting us with that is the Turian Garrus. And hell, this place is big, he could've gone anywhere if he finds any information."

"I think I know someone who may be able to help us find him. I don't like him at all, and our friendship is non-existent, but maybe he'll talk to you. His name is Harkin. If you can find him…and knowing him, he'll be getting drunk in a place called Chora's Den, he might know some information. His a member of C-Sec like Garrus, and seems to know how to keep tabs on almost everyone from there. Most likely hacks the terminals, knowing the asshole. Regardless, find him, find Garrus, and see if his found anything or onto something."

Samus nodded. "Alright."

"Take Alenko and Williams with you, just to make sure if anything, you don't cause me anymore trouble, alright? Any objections Commander?"

She saluted him. "No sir."

* * *

Saren was in a dim light room, glaring angrily at the console before him, having just disconnected from the hearing…before he snapped, snarling, and roaring out, storming around the room a little, smashing a few other consoles, and punching his fist into a wall.

After seeing Samus' eyes, he knew what she had seen. He knew she had seen the beacon's vision. He had hoped the bombs took it out, but he knew from her eyes, that she managed to see it all.

The hunter was once again about to get in his way…his masters way. He couldn't allow this, he mustn't allow her!

He stormed around, untill an Asari, one who was advanced in her age, stood before him, stopping him, looking right at him, despite the fact he was panting in anger, ready to tear her to sheds. She wore a long black leather dress, with long dress, and a gap in the middle, showing a part of her bosoms. She wore a leather helmet, which seemed to have two black antennas sticking out, her blue eyes looking right into his, her aged face before him.

He slowly calmed him a little, before snarling out. "I want Samus Aran, out of the picture. She cannot be allowed to live!"

* * *

1. But that don't mean them bullets didn't leave you nuttier then a bighorner dropping.-Doc Mitchell, New Vegas, quoted cos'…I don't know.


	3. The Citadel

"Chora's Den. This place hasn't changed at all over the years. Asari dancers shaking their asses, 80% of the customers are males, the drinks range from the legal to a few well hidden illegal ones that I can just make out, and there's Tarnavis, the Turian bartender who always served me since the others tried to keep their distance in fear of me blasting their heads off."

The music was loud, the neon blue and pink lighting covered the place, Asari in some rather revealing clothing placing on top of a bar located in the middle of the place, the beings either having a drink or staring at the said dancers. Samus, Kaidan and Ashley had just entered, with Samus taking a long, deep breath, enjoying the smell of drunks, smoke and sweat, before she had explained the place to them.

Ashley was strongly in disapproval of it. "You used to come here often? Why? Why not the Flux? At least it's more respectable then…this."

"Because it's the best place to watch for targets at. The owner, Fist? I know he does some dirty underhanded work, and once he tried to shoo me out of here when he was waiting for a few traders bringing him some drugs. He picked the time I'd just got back from a mission, so I still had all my Chozo tech, thus two shots of my Plasma beam on his bodyguards later, he wisely chose to leave me be instead of trying a conflict. We've been…on good terms, you could say, since then. His learnt to speak to his partners elsewhere whenever I was around."

"I'm surprised they'd sell illegal drinks nowadays after having you hanging around here back then. Wouldn't the prospect of you returning put them off?" Kaidan added.

"Nah, I never had any problems with the alcohol. I'd only chase after those who were on the Federation bounty list boards. I'd scan customers as they came in and see if they were on the lists, if they were, I'd either let them have one drink, or watch one show with a dancer, before I arrest their ass, or take them outside and gun'em down. Alive or dead, it all depended on whatever paid the highest."

Kaidan looked a little impressed. "How much would you rake in with some of them?"

"I normally earned around two to three thousand credits for each. Murderers or people known in raids earned me a nice catch of at least six thousand. If they were wanted alive, I'd normally have to break a few of their ribs, their leg or an arm in order to get them to cooperate."

Tarnavis, aka the Turian barman, soon noticed Samus after serving a customer, as she walked over, and leaned on the bar. "Samus? Is, that you? You look like shit."

"Thanks." she answered in a deadpan tone. "I need to know if a certain someone is here right now."

"Aw come on Samus. Why not a drink or two first as you used to? It's been six years!"

"Nah, I should remain sober untill I get off duty. Do you know a Harkin?"

The barman seemed to think about this for a moment. "Yeah, yeah I know him. Jennas given him several drinks already, his near the entrance to Fists place. Better get to him now, before the Krogan bouncer feels like tossing his ass out."

Samus and the other two went around the bar, and eventually, they saw who they were looking for, sitting at a table by himself, with a bottle of booze nearby. He was mostly bald, looking in his 30's, and was just idily staring at a dancing Asari nearby. He soon spotted Samus and the others walking over. "Whoa, hey there baby, I hope this isn't an offer for a foursome or something. Get rid of the idiot. I prefer just two girls."

Ashley muttered quietly. "Great, drunks. All we need right now…"

Samus wasn't having none of it, as she stood before Harkin, glaring down at him as he sat there, lazily leaning back, looking up at her. "Name's Samus Shepard. David Anderson sent me, said you might know where a Turian named Garrus Vakarian is currently."

Harkin chuckled a little. "Anderson sent you did he? Asshole wants information and nowadays he can't even be bothered to show up himself to get it, lazy sonnova bitch…yeah I know where Garrus is right now, doesn't mean I'm gonna tell ya, unless your willing to show off your goods."

Samus crossed her arms. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, take off the gear, shake your ass for me a bit, then I'll pass the info. You look like you got some quality goods from here. Heheh.."

Harkin soon found himself with a bloody nose and head on the table, dazed. Samus wasn't putting up with his crap, and socked him right in the face. "Don't think you're the first guy from C-Sec that's been introduced to my fist. Now either tell me that info, or start walking out, because if you even think about fighting back, the unwise third option, I'll snap a few of your bones for you to make you reconsider."

The guy soon managed to force his face off the table, and stand up, glaring at Samus. "You little bitch!" He made a swing for her…which resulted in him finding his arm that he had used twisted right around his back, Samus's arm around his neck, with her behind him for a few seconds, before she moved her arm, grabbed his head, then slamming his upper half into the table, knocking off the bottle of booze, holding his head down with her hand.

"Trust me Harkin, C-Sec doesn't prepare you for me. Now do I really need to break your arm over this?" Samus was smirking, clearly enjoying this.

Kaidan quickly looked over at Ashley, noticing a few of the patrons taking notice. "Aren't we suppose to stop her from causing any trouble while we look for Garrus?"

"You want to try then? Because I don't." Ashley answered, after hearing Harkin beg for Samus to let him go, which she eventually did, backing off, but ready if he tries to fight again as he stood up once more, shaking his arm that was twisted and looking at it, wincing in pain a little.

"Now, we talking? Or are you leaving?" Samus gave him the choice again.

Harkin mumbled something under his breath, and soon began to walk out, stumbling a little on the way. Most of the patrons who were watching looked at him leave, then focused on Samus for a moment, before going back to their own drinks and women.

Kaidan was surprised Samus did just simply let him go. "Wait, after all that your fine with him leaving? You don't mind beating someone down, and gaining nothing out of it?"

Samus shrugged. "It was good stress relief and helps me focus, I felt a tingling pain down one side of me again, and dealing with Harkin helped me ignore it. Relax, we'll get the information from somewhere. If it turns out he was the only one with it, I'll chase him down."

Samus was in luck though, someone up in the realms above favoured her.

Two of the beings that hadn't watched what was going on were just outside the door to Fists place. It seems the Krogan bouncer the barman mentioned was busy with another Krogan this whole time, who had three scars down one side of his face. His red scaled armor looked familiar to Samus as she noticed the Krogan was demanding to get in, but the bouncer firmly warned him to get lost.

He suddenly turned away from the bouncer, snarling in annoyance, and was walking towards them, or more precise, as Samus quickly noticed, he intended to just barge through. She wasn't one to let people push her around, so instead showed she wouldn't let him, by a dark glare, and moving towards him.

"Samus, I wouldn't recommended…" Ashley started with, before it was too late, and both the Krogan and Samus smacked into one another, shoulder by shoulder, the Krogan actually out powering her and pushing her aside, but it got his attention, as he looked at her.

"Hmph, Humans, especially the females, are rarely as bold as you when a Krogan storms their way past to leave."

"I've handled my fair share of Krogan. Especially those that tried to make deals with the Space Pirates in the Dalanius System, and instead had to leave with their pride damaged." Samus looked him right in the eyes.

Her voice made something click in his head. "Space Pirates?…Wait…I know you. Looking at your figure, and your attitude, you must be that annoying bitch, without the power suit this time. It's been a good while since that raid in the Dalanius System, hasn't it, hunter? I hope you're not going to try to take anymore credits outta me, because this time I have a more even chance of killing you."

Kaidan and Ashley came over to Samus, with Kaidan looking surprised. "You met this guy before, Samus?"

"Urdnot Wrex. He and several other Krogan decided to team up with the Pirates to attack one of the Turian colonies. I came along and fucked it all up for them. Over one hundred pirates dead, the rest retreated, and all but one Krogan, who put his gun down and decided to hand me the credits the space pirates paid him for the job in exchange for letting him go and sparing his life."

"Yeah. That was 15,000 credits, and you're not getting a chip more outta me. I'm clean for the moment, so you can look elsewhere to collect your goddamn bounties." Wrex snarled at her.

"Relax big guy. I was wondering why you were chatting to that bouncer over there. Long lost relative? Idiot brother? Guy that shagged your wife?" Samus shrugged innocently, knowing full well she could see she was getting on his nerves a little, but she didn't mind…it was her, Kaidan and Ashley against him, she would let him fire first too, so then C-Sec couldn't arrest her as it would be self defence. She was ready to raise her kinetic shields the second he grabs his gun.

Wrex didn't bite though, instead, he answered with something that caught her interest. "Actually, hunter, I'm doing a little bounty hunting myself right now, for the shadow broker. Fist needs to die."

Samus raised her eyebrow slightly. "Wait, the Shadow Broker? I thought Fist was on good terms with that information collector? Last time I was around Fist got a little extra on the side from it…'course I took that money as 'annoyance pay' for him trying to shoo me out with his goons again, but still."

"Well not anymore, not since his decided to backstab the broker. From what I've heard his decided to send a possible client with information the broker wanted to a spectre called Saren. The broker picked up on a transmission between Fist and Saren a day ago when Fist was told this client would soon visit him…the broker isn't happy."

"How much is the pay?"

" 'bout 7,000. 3,000 extra if the client in question is found unharmed."

Kaidan was alerted by the fact Sarens named was mentioned. "Shepard, if Saren is involved, it might be a lead. Maybe this client has information about Eden Prime or something more. Something that'll remove his spectre status."

Samus thought about this carefully, then focused on Wrex. "You know, I'm quite a good pal of Fists. How about we go and have a little chat with him?"

Wrex laughed at her. "Oh yeah? And how do you expect to get past the bouncer here and the other ones that are bound to get pissed if we do anything?"

Samus pulled out her rifle, charging it up and ready. "I'm a professional at handling bouncers."

* * *

Udina and Anderson were back in the human embassy office, with Udina sitting at his desk, looking at the holo-projected screen at data files, while Anderson was looking at over at the presidium. Neither had spoken much since the meeting with the councillors. Right now, it was all eerily silent between them.

They had managed to sort out the whole AI having a name with the council. Thankfully Valern had gotten the others to dismiss it, expecting Samus to give something like that a name if she's so close to each of her ships.

Anderson was thinking about Samus, which in turn, led to him thinking about Adam…Adam Malkovich.

He had tried to help Samus let go of his death. Ever since she returned to service, he had often tried to talk to her about it, try to get her to open up a bit to him again. He remembered the day she had to be brought before the council all those years ago, finally seeing her again…

"_Samus Aran. You…don't look too good. Or at least your suit doesn't now. What the hell happened to it?"_

_Anderson stood before her in the hangar bay, where her ship had been docked. He had several C-Sec officers with him, ready to escort the famed bounty hunter. He looked her up and down, as she walked up to him. "Parasites and Metroid DNA David. Been one hell of a bumpy ride since I last saw you."_

_With that, she shook his hand, and he remembered the smile she had on her face, as she looked at him through her visor. He couldn't help but feel, disgusted, by the slimy, rubbery texture her suit hand now had, and chuckled a little after moving his hand away and going 'eeugh.' on purpose._

"_So, I take it these guys are here to show me the way to the council?" Samus asked._

"_Unfortunately yes…the news we've been hearing has been, disturbing to some, but I know whatever you've done, you done it for the right reasons, as always. Hopefully, and god willing, the council know this as well. You've done the Alliance and the Galactic Federation proud with all you've achieved, remember that." He could tell by her reaction that little reassurance helped her concern on the matter._

"_Thanks David. I'll see you later then, after the chat. Hopefully we can have a little drink together to catch up, huh?" With that, she walked past him, told the officers she was ready to meet the council, and was about to be escorted away, when she saw that he was following._

"_You need someone there from the Alliance Samus. I can't let you handle politics alone you know." He had begun walking beside her, and heard her say "thanks." as they entered the lift to head down into the presidium, and go to that dreadful meeting…_

_The Turian, Sparatus, and the Asari, Tevos, were both there, but also there was Valern's predecessor, who had now retired, Keaton. A person who was from a sub-species of Salarian, from their homeworld. The body was pretty much the same, but their heads were different, his was more round, and he had antennas with two small visible eyes coming out from the top of them, and actual pointy ears. His skin was different in the way it was green and scaled down the front part of his body, and finally, his eyes were red, and had very visible pupils unlike the actual main species of Salarian. He was first an officer of C-Sec, then became the chairman, and now, he was the voice for the Salarians on the seats of the council._

…_and he knew Samus quite well with her past dealings._

_He red eyes glared down at her from the council's position, after Samus had explained that the Alliance had offered no payment for the destruction of the B.S.L station or of SR388, but it was all of her own accord and choice in order to stop the threat. To Anderson, it seemed wise and sensible, but to them…_

"_You are nothing more then a highly destructive criminal Samus Aran! The Alliance should be watching your every step instead of allowing you free reign to cause damage wherever you may please! B.S.L was an important science station to the Galactic Federation, and you destroyed it because you 'felt' it was the right choice!"_

"_What I found on that station, Councillor, should be something that I should question the Federation about! Metroids being bred! And experiments to control the X parasite!" Samus shouted back to the Salarian._

_There was a brief moment of silence from all sides, untill Sparatus spoke up. "Where is the proof, Aran? Because if I recall, the whole Metroids being bred excuse was used by you before for the loss of the Bottle Station, correct? You couldn't produce any proof other then proclaim Adam died to stop them, and your other sources of information, 'Anthony Higgs' and 'Madeline Bergman' were never found."_

"_It's obvious she cannot just admit she enjoys, no, needs, to see the progress of the Federation get destroyed. A lethal and dangerous criminal. Nothing more." Keaton added._

_Tevos looked down at Samus, and noticed she was getting really frustrated. "Samus, do you have any proof?"_

_Anderson stood close to the bounty hunter, and saw her seemingly think inside that helmet. She had something in mind, but soon, all she said back was "No. I do not."_

_Tevos looked to Sparatus, then to Keaton, both murmured something, before pressing buttons on the consoles before them, before finally Tevos did the same. "Samus Aran, we, the council, feel you are too dangerous to be of any service to the Galactic Federation, and the Alliance, and have removed your bounty hunter status. We must also place you under arrest for acts of terrorism against the Federation, any resistance to your arrest will be used to extend your time imprisoned, do you understand?"_

"_Now wait just a damn minute!" Anderson wasn't going to allow them to just brand Samus a goddamn criminal. Samus seemed to just be ready to accept the punishment, but he wasn't. "This is Samus Aran we're talking about here! A galactic saviour! She's battled pirates to the far reaches of known space for you lot! She saved your behind twice before Keaton, she almost wiped out the Metroids, a bio-weapon that was lethal to all life! She's slain Ridley over and over along with the other Pirate Lords to stop their criminal activities! She's taken down the rogue AI Mother Brain for you lot! I accept that she does need to think of her actions, and stopping her going around bounty hunting is fine, but imprisonment is too far!"_

_Sparatus answered this. "Then what would you have us do? Just allow her to roam free? She could easily become a mercenary and continue her work."_

"_Look…Just give us time, alright? A day. Let us find proof to show about the B.S.L station. If we find proof of Metroid breeding or about these X parasites being used as possible weapons, you need to admit she did the right thing and lessen her punishment." Anderson pleaded to them, hoping they would give them a small chance._

_Keaton had folded his arms in obvious disapproval, but Tevos and Sparatus were more lenient, thankfully. Tevos soon spoke as she looked to the Turian, then to Anderson and Samus. "Although we may feel you are just wasting time, we do understand that Samus deserves a chance to show evidence, in light of everything she's done for us before. One day Anderson. No more."_

"_We'll get right on it." Anderson assured the councillor, before turning to Samus. "Come on, we got work to do, I need all the details you can give me, okay?"_

"Anderson!"

David turned around and noticed Udina looking at him from his chair. "Sorry, my mind drifted a little. Did you find out if Samus has been taken off the list of potential spectres due to what's going on?"

Udina nodded. "It seems they still see her with a chance. Despite the loss of Nihlus, a fair few of the other spectres support the idea of Samus being one of them. Hopefully if we can get proof about Saren and get him off the rank of spectre, that will seal the deal for Miss Shepard."

"Good. She needs something to go right for once. Maybe then she'll be a bit more chipper about things."

"I just hope we're doing the right thing, allowing her to become a spectre…" Udina looked back to the data before him.

"Trust me ambassador, she might've been brash a few times back in the days of hunting, but her time in N7 and being in the Alliance once again have made her know when to not cause any unneeded trouble."

* * *

"Heck yes! Bar fights! I love 'em! Ashley, make sure you just shoot that bald bastard in the balls, I remember the time he tried to hit on me!"

Samus, Wrex, Ashley and Kaidan, were currently behind the bar, the barkeepers had fled, along with most of the customers and workers of Chora's den. Samus started the fight by burrowing Wrex's energy shotgun, walking up to the Krogan bouncer and blasted his face off before he had a chance to activate his kinetic shields. Now there was around 15 people responding to that by shooting them, mostly bouncers, some of the customers, probably criminals who have dealings with Fist. Samus didn't really care, they just need to run, or die.

There was around 7, folks left against them, and Wrex just blasted down two of them with one shotgun round, before ducking back down, and hearing the scream of another, as Ashley did what Samus suggested…shoot the bald guy right in the balls…with a hail with energy bullets from her rifle. "You know I expected you humans to have a more peaceful idea on how to get to Fist, not complaining though!"

Kaidan got up from his hiding position and used his biotics to knock three of the bouncers who were close together off their feet and smacking into a wall. Samus followed up by firing at them, gunning them down before they could recover. "I was thinking about it, but I knew this place hasn't had any real action for some time. It was time to take it back to the good old days."

It left just one man against them, and Ashley gave him a neat little headshot right through his face, after Wrex fired his shotgun, disabling the guys shields. "You know commander, we gotta do this again sometime." Ashley commented, looking around, checking it was clear.

"No we shouldn't." Kaidan added, looking annoyed at Samus. "Did we really need to get into that fight Shepard? I'm sure there was other ways we could've handled this matter you know."

"Sixteen dead bodies say no point worrying about it now. Come on. Fist's waiting." Samus jumped over the bar, looking back to it afterwards as Wrex, Kaidan and Ashley moved away from it. "Huh, no Blue Blurr. Must've been discontinued…shame, wanted to enjoy a shot of it after this."

They walked up to the door the Krogan bouncer was once watching, and opening it revealed two more people working for fist, guns ready, though, they didn't fire, and were clearly shaking it fear. "Don't come any closer! We'll open fire!"

Wrex sighed in annoyance. "They're just slave workers for the guy, I don't think we should even waste ammo on them."

Samus nodded. "Good point. Hey, why don't you two just get the hell outta here instead of trying to be stupid?"

The workers looked at each other for a moment, before focusing on Samus and the others again. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Four of us, two of you. Do the math. And remember to add the total of dead bodies in the den behind us. If we could take them out, what chance in hell do you have?" Samus knew that would make them think.

It worked, the workers lowered their guns, and with great caution, slowly went by the group, putting away their weapons, before running for their lives out of Chora's Den.

"I see your charm hasn't changed much over the years, hunter. Reminds me of when you had me cornered." Wrex quipped in.

They moved on, and soon, they had found themselves in Fists office. The guy himself was busy looking at a data pad, having not heard the door open. Samus sped up her pace, walking much faster then the others, storming in, heading right to him. "Hey Fist! Long time no see! Didn't hear me cause a shoot out in your bar again?"

Fist just barely had the time to turn and raise his pistol towards Samus, firing one shot that missed as she quickly knocked his hand with hers, making the gun fire upwards, then twisting his hand to force him to let go of it, before pushing him back and pretty much slamming him on his own desk, holding him by the neck. "Y-you!"

"Yeah, it's me Fist. Soooo, had a little fall out with the shadow broker did we? Got yourself in the deep end again?" She made sure to keep her grip tight on his neck, just letting him have the ability to breathe.

"So what, bitch? What's it to you huh? You ain't a hunter no more. You can't claim any bounties on me. As far as I had heard, you tried to keep a low profile. Is isn't the best way to do it now, is it?"

Samus lifted his head slightly, them smacked it down hard on the desk. "Don't piss me off Fist. You don't need that."

"What do you want then? Does the A-Alliance want me arrested?" breathing was taking a fair bit of his energy to do. Samus's grip felt like it was getting tighter around his air hole. The others had now come and stood with Samus, watching her way of handling someone like him.

"I want information, Fist. Information about someone who you decided to hand over to an asshole named Saren."

"A-A Quarian. She's due to meet agents working for Saren. Down the alley near the den. She had-had information about Eden Prime, Saren wanted her to stop her giving whatever it is away. H-hacked transmission, she said!"

Kaidan looked surprised. "A transmission? If it's important enough to try to give to the shadow broker then it's gotta be useful for us in the council."

Samus agreed, then pulled Fist up from the desk, making him stand and look right at her. Her grip on his neck never loosening. "Now, my friend here, the Krogan? Is after your head. But we're pals, right Fist? Great pals at that, aren't we?"

Fist managed to nod, sweating as he sees the Krogan smile evilly, holding his shotgun.

"That's good. Now…" She used her other hand, and pulled out her pistol, aiming it at Fist's arm…and before he could say a word, fired it, blasting a small yet decent hole into his arm, causing blood to splatter on the floor, over, specifically, his pistol, she even, after putting her pistol away, yanked his arm to make sure more blood dribbled on it as he managed to cry out in pain.

"Relax Fist." she said, as he was whimpering, and she finally let go of his wounded arm. "This is going to save you in the long run. I didn't blast the bone, just grab some medi gel from one of clinics, then get the hell off this station and keep a low profile for a while."

She slowly turned around, dragging him with her, then, shoved him back, letting him go, allowing him to hit the floor, grunting in pain and still whimpering over his arm, as he sat up and looked at her. "Exit is to your left. Get out of here Fist, for now, Chora's Den needs to be closed."

He didn't argue, he didn't dare say anything, he forced himself up, and stumbled out of the room, holding his wounded arm tightly.

Wrex looked down at the pistol Fist left behind, now mostly covered in his blood. "Hm, nice. Proof of death, and even DNA to back it up. Nice job hunter, this'll guarantee one part of the bounty."

"Grab it Wrex and let's go. We gotta make sure the other part of the bounty is safe. Our Quarian friend is in danger."

* * *

The Quarian, a female one, in question, had finally arrived in the red lit alleyway, looking around and waiting for someone. Fist someone her a personal meeting with the broker about this information she had. All she had to do, was wait…

That's when she noticed four people, two Turians wearing black armor and two Salarians wearing white, walk down the alley, towards her. One of the Turians motioned her to come towards them, which she cautiously did so. "So, you must be the one with information on Saren, correct?" one of Turians asked.

She nodded. "That's right…which one of you is the shadow broker?"

The Turian seemed to ignore her question, something that alerted her. "Why don't you just hand over the info? We'll send the payment for it to your Omni tool."

She took a step back as they advanced on her. "Where, is, the shadow broker? I was promised to meet them in person. The deal is off otherwise!"

She then realized they had their barriers up, the faint flicker of blue energy around all four of them confirmed this. They were ready for resistance. "Just hand it over, and we'll let you walk away." The Turian warned.

"How about you just let her walk away now and not waste your miserable lives?"

Walking up besides her, his pistol out, aiming at the group, was Garrus Vakarian, looking rather confident at getting here on time. "Ma'am. I'm from C-Sec. Get behind me, I'll handle them."

The Quarian must've been frowning behind her mask. "Excuse me? I can handle myself thank you very much!" She pulled out her own pistol, and aimed it at the thugs.

They responded by pulling out their shotguns and sniper rifles. "Unfortunately for you, we have the firepower and numbers. Now how about you both drop your toys and just come with us? I'm sure we can find some use for both of you."

Garrus smirked. "Come on then, I ain't going down as easy as you'd like."

"Good, a little sport. Kill the cop guys, cripple the Quarian untill we can get that info!" the Turian aimed his rifle at Garrus, only to hear the charging and loading of four other weapons, behind him and his group.

"How about you guys drop YOUR toys since we now have the numbers?" Samus held her assault rifle ready, aiming right for the head of the Turian who seemed to be leading the group. Wrex, Kaidan and Ashley were besides her, ready for action.

The Turian slowly turned around, and instead of listening, like she expected, the moment he saw her, he just went nuts. "It's Samus Shepard! Kill her! Kill her in the name of Saren!"

It didn't take no more then several seconds for the brief exchange of weapons fire to end. Samus's group let loose after the Turian had said that, and Garrus and the Quarian fired several rounds the moment Samus opened fire. Whatever shields the four thugs had, quickly died out, and their bodies were riddled with burnt holes in their flesh, as they fell to the floor.

Samus and her team soon lowered their weapons, and headed over to Garrus and his companion, stepping over the bodies. "Garrus. Almost bit more off then you could chew. Surprised you were here. How'd you know about….?" she looked at the Quarian, motioning her to say her name.

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

Garrus gave a small, amused chuckle. "Well actually I didn't. You see I was looking around in the neighbourhood, hunting for info on Saren, anything really, when I saw these two workers of Chora's Den run by in a blind panic. I questioned them, turned out someone was shooting up the place, and I was about to head there, when I noticed Tali'Zorah here acting strangely, waiting around, slowly making her way down the alley, I presumed she was waiting for the attackers of the Den to come, since, well, down that way is Chora's Den. So, waited, saw the thugs, knew she was in danger, came to the rescue then you guys showed up and did most of the work for me. Thanks."

"Well, I have all of you to thank. I really can only imagine what would've happened to me if none of you came. I owe you all." Tali said with relief.

Samus walked over to her. "Tali, you have information on Saren, right? Something that is dangerous enough to him he had to send his goons to get it?"

Tali nodded. "I was going to use it as a bargain with the broker, but since I owe you, it's a starting way to pay you back. It's a transmission of Saren and someone else, discussing about the attack on Eden Prime."

"That's perfect Tali. If you don't mind, we'd like you to come with us to the human embassy, and probably to the council itself. I'm sure this is just what we need to deal with that asshole of a spectre."

* * *

"_Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."_

"_And one step closer, to the return of the Reapers."_

Tali stood there before the council, her arm outstretched, her Omni tool glowing, as the playback ended. Besides her, was Samus, Anderson and Udina. Further back, off the walkway, was Kaidan, Ashley, Wrex and Garrus.

There was silence afterwards, a long, moment of silence, before Sparatus spoke. "Where did you find this, Quarian?"

"I managed to salvage it from a damaged Geth I found. Most of it's memory core was wiped, but from its audio logs I got this. No doubt when this conversation occurred it was transmitted between all the Geth as one overheard it sir." Tali answered. She looked worried, standing before the council of the Federation.

Sparatus seemed to think this over, as Udina then decided to add "You wanted proof. Well there it is."

The Turian councillor resigned to the truth. "The evidence is…undeniable. We will strip Saren of his spectre status."

Tevos had been thinking since she heard the voice of Saren, and another voice, the one who said about the reapers. "I know that other voice. Matriarch Benezia. She is a well known member of Asari society. She was many followers, and if she's working with Saren, it is worrying."

"I'm more interested about these 'Reapers'. Do we know anything about them?" Valern asked.

Tali knew. "Only what we know from the Geth sir. The Reapers are their gods. They're the perfect machines to the Geth, an ancient force that managed to wipe out the Protheans…and just seemed to vanish."

"The Geth are working for Saren, so he probably knows of a way to bring their 'gods' back. Probably has something to do with this conduit that he mentioned. His looking for it, that's why he attacked Eden Prime, and hunted for the beacon. Whatever this conduit is, it's just bad news to us if it can help bring these Reapers back." Samus added.

Sparatus frowned a little. "Bringing back machines that destroyed the Protheans, wiped them all out…That sounds ridiculous. Impossible even, it has to be. Where did they go? Why did they vanish? If they existed we would've found something about them by now."

"Councillor, just accept what I say for once, alright?" Samus could feel her anger rising with him.

Tevos knew when to try and intervene. "Shepard, you've given us proof of Saren, solid proof. You shown Saren has betrayed the Federation and is out there looking for this conduit, yet we cannot confirm actually why he is."

Valern then put his part in. "Obviously like most god beliefs, it is just a myth. No doubt a myth Saren is using to make the Geth bow to his will."

"So what will you do when it turns out to be correct then? That there is a race called the Reapers? And they begin their attack? What will you do?" Samus questioned.

"Saren is the main cause of concern, not these Reapers. We've stripped him of his rank and resources now." Tevos argued calmly.

"That's not good enough!" Udina was suddenly coming into the fray. "You know his somewhere in the traverse send your fleets in! Stop him now before he can cause any more attacks against us and the Federation!"

Valern shook his head. "A fleet cannot track down one man, Udina."

"He needs to be stopped! You can easily secure the sector, keep the Geth and Saren from attacking anymore colonies!"

"And risk a war with the Teminus Systems? The Space Pirates once again? We've already had several major conflicts with them, pushing our fleets into the traverse will only trigger all out galactic war with them and other independent species that'll gladly join their cause to keep us out, something we will not do over a few dozen warned human colonies." Sparatus pointed out.

"Every time, every BLOODY time Humanity ask for help, you try to ignore us! Humanity is been a damn proud part of this Galactic Federation, and all you do is turn your back whenever possible! No wonder the Chozo wanted to stand on their own!" Samus was infuriated now.

Tevos raised her hand, a way to ask Samus to try and remain calm. "Shepard, there is a way for us to help, one that does not require armies or fleet, and can still stop Saren."

Sparatus and Valern both looked at Tevos, who quietly begun talking to them, for which seemed like several minutes, before all three focused on Samus. Tevos was the first to speak. "Samus Shepard, we know you are exceptional on your tracking skills, and abilities to face down what seemed like impossible tasks years before. Taking down a rogue spectre will be a challenge. But we can tell that is what you want to do, correct?"

Samus nodded.

Sparatus continued. "However, we cannot give you the title and license of Bounty Hunter to do so again. We cannot overlook your actions in the past, rash actions which have destroyed worlds, decisions that others would panic and break down on, decisions that have caused ripples across our galaxy…decisions that only spectres can handle."

Valern then spoke. "Despite all the negative effects of what you've done, your achievements have earned you respect from many species across our worlds, respect that you've earned through hardship. You even were came to be known as a Galactic Saviour to many people who knew your previous name…We want that saviour, as one of our Spectres."

"Do you accept our offer, Commander Samus Shepard?" Tevos was calmly waiting for a response, as was the other two council members.

Samus wasn't sure if she was hearing this right, and looked to Udina and Anderson, both gave clear signs they wanted her to accept the offer. She turned her focus back to the council. "I accept, councillor."

"Then please, step forward." Tevos put her hand on the console before her typing something, as did Sparatus and Valern with theirs. Before looking at Samus again, as she took a few steps forward, to the edge of the walkway. Samus heard the murmurs of voices from around the council hall, seeing people from the balconies watching eagerly.

"It is by the decision of the council that you are to be granted all the powers and the privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the council." Tevos started with.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file." Valern said.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Tevos continued.

Sparatus finished the induction. "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of Galactic peace. Both our first and last line of defence, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

Tevos looked to Samus, and gave a slight smile. "This is a great achievement for humanity. You are the first human, albeit half human, to become a spectre. An accomplishment that even some of the much longer allied species with us have yet to achieve."

Samus felt like something had been lifted off her shoulders. All of her anger had subsided. She was now a spectre. Much, much better then being a bounty hunter, and better still, had a lot of freedom with it that came with her bounty hunting times before, and to hold the honour of being the first one…she gave a slight, courteous bow, before standing tall. "Thank you, Councillors. What is my mission?"

Valern answered her. "We're sending you into the traverse to go after the rogue spectre Saren. He was a fugitive, so you are authorised to use whatever means you feel is necessary to bring him to justice or eliminate him."

"Understood. I'll find him, complete my mission and report back."

Tevos nodded. "Then this meeting of the council is adjourned."

Samus gave one more bow, then turned her attention to Tali, who seemed honoured herself, to witness a new Spectre being inducted, giving her a little handshake, before Samus turned her attention to Udina and Anderson. The smile on Andersons face made her even more proud of what she was now, as he shook her hand. "Congratulations, Shepard."

Udina quickly knew it was time to get to work. "We've got ourselves some business to sort out Commander. You'll need a ship, a good crew, and supplies…Why don't you go have a little celebration somewhere? Anderson, you need to come with me, I'll need your help in order to set this up!"

With that, he walked off the walkway, heading off down the stairs, making sure Anderson was following, leaving Samus and the others be. Tali seemed a little surprised by Udina's reaction. "I thought your ambassador would be, well, a little more grateful for what you are to your kind Shepard."

"Doesn't matter. His sorting out things for me, so I guess that's his way of showing his appreciation. Come on Tali, for helping me, I know a place that isn't shot up right now that serves some good Dextro drinks and snacks. All on me."

Meanwhile, Anderson and Udina had just got on the lift leading them out of the Council area. He was glad that meeting went a lot better then the other fateful one years ago…boy, he couldn't get it out of his head…

"_Samus Aran has a WHAT, on her ship Anderson?" Udina exclaimed in pure shock._

"_An AI. One that supposedly the Alliance had granted to her when the Galactic Federation had supposedly commissioned her a new ship. The thing is, I've had C-Sec check through ship register files, all created by the Federation, and only her new ship doesn't match any records. All of her other ships do." Anderson was sitting on the other side of Udinas desk in the embassy, as Udina sat there, his hands over his face, sighing, before taking a few deep breaths, and looking at Anderson again._

"_So, you're telling me, she has an unknown ship, an unknown AI that is apparently made by us, who has a name according to what Samus told you?"_

_"…Adam sir. Based on, Commander Adam Malkovich." Anderson still couldn't get over the shock of Samus truly believing that an AI could be him. She was so sure of it, he could see that as they spoke earlier._

"_This is just brilliant. We were hoping for evidence to use against the council, and instead we get evidence that could keep her locked away for a lot more now."_

"_It gets worse ambassador. Samus had tried to return to her ship, but C-Sec had locked it down and begun a full investigation of it due to energy spikes from it's systems."_

_Udina couldn't believe this. "Which means they'll find that AI soon enough, and report it straight to the council. Has it got any restraints Anderson?"_

"…_No sir."_

"_An unshackled AI who's origins remain a mystery, fondly named Adam. A ship that no one knows who created it. A destroyed Space Station and an obliterated planet…She's finished Anderson. The saviour is going to be put through the ringer and hung to dry for a least, 30, 40 years? You know what the Federation are like with AI's, they haven't forgotten about the Quarians and their Geth….unless…"_

"_Ambassador?" Anderson was aware that Udina was coming up with something. Wherever he likes it or not is another matter._

"_We pin the blame on the AI. We tell them that we managed to look into the ships databanks, and found that, before the AI could manage to wipe it, evidence of it having suggested to Aran that she had to, no, ordered to destroy the station and the planet by the Alliance."_

"_You can't be serious Udina. Surely we can think of another way, another idea, right?" Anderson didn't want to hurt her, not over Adam again._

"_Samus Aran is going to get at least thirty years in prison or even longer Anderson, if we don't use the AI." Udina argued._

_"Damnit Udina. The AI is Adam to her, I can't make her lose him again….she'll never forgive me."_

"_What would Adam do if he were in your shoes then, if you were the AI Samus grew to care about hm?" Udina questioned, looking at Anderson straight in the eyes, agitated over all the hours spent trying to find something to save the now ex-bounty hunter._

_Anderson knew what Adam would do, and sighed deeply, in defeat to the truth, knowing his old friend. "He would…allow me to get dismantled…to spare her suffering in the long run, and in time…she would learn…I'll inform C-Sec of my need to get on the ship for evidence, they should allow me with any luck…"_

_He remembered managing to get C-Sec to let him on the ship, warning him of an unshackled AI, and it was of his own risk to step on that ship, should it have any self defence weapons inside the AI could control. They also pointed out about four animals on the ship they had to extract and secure, a blue bird and three small green mammals, something that no doubt Samus saved from the space station._

_He remembered standing there, inside the control room of the ship, looking at the console in front of Samus' chair. The green glow of it…and then noticing a few metal cameras in the room, their green lenses focused on him, as he stood there, slowly looking around, before finally speaking. "Adam, are you here?"_

_He didn't expect a response, or the fact it suddenly sounded like his lost friend, except his voice sounded machine like, and tinny. "Yes."_

_He paused, before continuing. "You're the AI she cares about?"_

_"Yes."_

"_You know who I am?"_

"_Yes David."_

_Anderson paused once again. "You know what I have to do, don't you?"_

"…_Yes."_

"_It will save her from prison. Set her free."_

_There was now a pause from the machine, before it responded. "I know. I was right, one of them listened."_

"_Huh?"_

_"You have, David Anderson. You have listened…Take care of her."_

"…_." He stepped over to the console, and begun to access it, using his Omni tool. "I need to sort a few things out. You won't mind me accessing some files, right?"_

"_Of course not."_

_Soon, he gained access to the B.S.L recorded files, the ones he wanted, recorded conversations between Samus and this, 'Adam.'. he didn't bother looking at them, he quickly began to erase them._

_The machine spoke to him, as he did so. "Is there anything you need me to say to the council?"_

"_No No, it's alright. I'm just deleting your files of your talks between you and Samus on the B.S.L Station so-"_

_The AI finished it for him, sounding impressed. "-You can fabricate a story, pinning all the blame on me instead of Samus. A brilliant plan. If C-Sec decide to ask any questions, I will tell them that I deleted the files under my own orders."_

"…_Thank you." Anderson felt it was wrong, all of this, talking to a machine that claimed, sounded like Adam, an AI…_

_What it said next was what overstepped the mental line in his head. "…You have always been a good friend to me Anderson. I just wish I was a good friend to you when I had the time."_

_He stopped deleting the files, turning and glaring at one of the cameras, pointing at it. "Goddamnit you are not Adam Malkovich! You're a machine, a program! Created by some sick bastard who thought making you with those memories was the best way to control Samus and her actions!"_

"_Some sick bastard." The machine repeated. "You know who it is really, Anderson. But you know he'll cover his tracks as always. I might be a program, but I know who I am."_

"_Argh!" Anderson let out, before focusing back on the console. Obviously now pissed off. _

"_Just keep listening to her, Anderson. She'll need support. Ignore me if you must like before, but don't let that effect her. She'll be angry, upset, frustrated, but I know you can set her on a good path…goodbye my friend."_

_He finally finished deleting the data he needed to, wiping it clean, before heading over to the lift to head back out of the lift, leaving with "I am not your friend machine…my friend, is dead."_

_Soon, the dreaded time had come, the council were ready, and Samus, Udina and Anderson stood before them. And Sparatus started it off, looking angry, as did Keaton, and Tevos. "We've had some, disturbing news Samus Aran, about your ship and it's contents, an unshackled AI. Care to explain?"_

_Samus was ready to defend Adam, Anderson saw that, but motioned her to stand down, as he took a step forward, taking a slow, deep breath, knowing that she was not going to like him after this for a good while. "The rogue AI has been investigated into by myself. Samus mentioned it to me, and after telling it I was a close friend to her, it allowed me access to some of it's information. But when I tried to get any on the B.S.L, it quickly tried to wipe the data clean, especially on it's conversations with Aran."_

_Tevos nodded. "Yes, when C-Sec tried to access a few file themselves, they were wiped clean, everything about the B.S.L Station was gone, and the AI outright admitted it was doing it because it wanted to, under it's own orders."_

_Anderson could feel Samus watching him closely now, her eyes locked onto him._

_Keaton folded his arms. "So, What did you manage to get out from the data before it managed to erase it?"_

_Anderson mentally apologised in his own mind to Samus. "The AI had ordered Samus Aran to destroy the B.S.L Station and the planet SR388, claiming it to be direct high priority orders from Alliance command, which in turn had the orders given to them, by the Galactic Federation. Samus accepted the orders without question, and proceeded to redirect the station to collide with the planet."_

_He quickly turned and glared at Samus, he heard her step forward, ready to unleash her anger, but his glare done it's horrible job, and he was stuck with that image of her eyes glaring back, as she stayed quiet. He slowly turned his head back to the council as Tevos began to talk, after having a brief discussion with Keaton and Sparatus. "Then we must conclude that Samus was merely following the orders of a dangerous AI, without knowing, and realizing it's rogue status, as we cannot gather any evidence otherwise. We will not grant her Bounty Hunter status back, for she has still caused the destruction of a planet of life, and of a station, but she will not be arrested."_

"_We will begin the dismantling and the destruction of the vessel containing the rogue AI right away. We cannot risk any delays as it may try to escape into the citadel systems once it realizes it's been found out. This meeting of the council is finished. You may leave now." Sparatus added._

_Anderson remembered the blow to his face the moment he turned back to Samus, she socked him right across the jaw, sending him flying to the floor, as she began to run for it, leaping down the stairs, no doubt rushing off to stop them from taking Adam away from her. He remembered hearing Udina informing the council to deploy C-Sec to corner and stop Samus, as she no doubt will not allow her ship to be lost, claiming she's been known to get deeply attached to them, a lie that the council brought._

_He felt dazed while on the floor from that blow, in pain, but he knew, he did the right thing, he saved her, in exchange for the loss of a machine…_

…_Just a machine…_

* * *

Samus, Garrus, Tali, Kaidan and Ashley were all sitting at a table in a place known as the Flux, a more respectable place then what Chora's Den was. It had loud music, a bar with a selection of food to choose from, gambling upstairs, and a dance floor close to the entrance.

It didn't have that gritty feel that Samus enjoyed from Chora's Den, but with that place currently littered with bodies, it wasn't an option right now.

Kaidan and Tali were both sitting closest to Samus, Tali, having to pretty much drink a nutrient paste through the tubing in her mask from a packet made of a plastic like substance, as the Flux maybe a more cleaner place, but certainly wasn't enough for the Quarians low immunity system. The chef of the place was kind enough to give her several options mind, and the one that she picked, she seemed to enjoy.

What got her the most though, was Samus having a plastic packet of nutrient paste as well, sucking it up bit by bit through a straw. Kaidan couldn't help but look in disbelief as he had a chicken salad. "…You can eat, drink, no wait, eat that? Dextro food? Seriously?"

Garrus looked over at him. "Kaidan, it's probably her Chozo blood. The race were like us and the Quarians. We can only eat Dextro-amino foods. She probably had the blood transfusion to allow her to adapt and eat the same, along with some other benefits…Can you actually eat both types of food Samus?"

Samus stopped drinking for a moment. "I could've had a steak sandwich or something if I wanted to, but a haven't had one of these in a long while. Used to carry them everywhere, especially on my old missions. Needed food, ya know, and it's not cheap to get carbon-protein food squashed and processed into a small, easily drinkable packet like this. Dextro stuff is a money saver."

Ashley had to admit, that was a good enough reason as any. "Speaking of, what did they mean by you being a Galactic Saviour once Shepard?"

Tali stopped drinking. "Yeah, I overheard that as well, and with this thing about you having Chozo blood too, you sound like the old legend Samus Aran."

Garrus was frowning at them both. "She IS, the old legend."

Tali paused, looking at him, then at Samus, then back at Garrus, before looking at Samus again. "Wait, is he serious?"

"I dumped the Aran part of my name years ago, left it behind once and for all once I got back in the military. Seems like it still gets dragged up…" Samus went back to her food.

Ashley was just as impressed. "You're the woman that made ripples across the Galactic Federation with your record bounty hunting? I didn't expect that good of reinforcements on Eden Prime. You're an inspiration to thousands of people."

Samus nodded and stopped again. "I noticed back on Earth and on Elysium. Having a fanbase is not a good thing. Especially when you want to try and forget that name."

"Why though? You're Samus! You beat the pirates despite the odd over and over, you stopped the outbreak of Phazon, you're a well known figure on the flotilla-" Tali went on.

"-Can we please, change, the subject? I don't like it when it's all repeated to me, okay? Where the hell is Wrex, is he back yet? If he takes another hour, he'll have to miss his free meal." Samus tried to get the attention off her.

Ashley chuckled, sitting back in her seat. "You expect that Krogan to bother coming back? You just handed him a bounty worth ten thousand. He'll just grab a ship and head off elsewhere."

Samus shook her head. "He won't. He likes to fight like all Krogan, and he just overheard in the council I'm going up against a rogue spectre, Geth, and an Asari Matriarch who'll have her own followers working with her. I won't mind having him come with us, his good with guns as he showed in Chora's Den."

Kaidan looked surprised. "You want him to? Can he?"

"I'm a spectre now, I'm sure I can put in a special request to have him come aboard whatever vessel I'm given. I'm gonna need the help now I can't just do things alone like I used to."

"Well it'll be a shame to lose you from the Normandy Shepard." Kaidan smiled. "Hey, at least you'll get your own ship again."

"Yeah, I suppose…" Samus then noticed a certain Krogan walking in, and going over to the bar, motioning at the table Samus and the others were on, before heading over, and sitting down. "Knew you'd be back Wrex. Got the money?"

"Yep. 10,000. Broker had to confirm the DNA, thought he wasn't going to buy it, but he did. His agent sounded disappointed about Tali here not giving them the information, but I reminded him that the contract was to just make sure she was safe. I'm going to put it towards upgrading my old shotgun. Any news on a getting a ship yet?"

"Not yet. Take it you're interested in coming with me?"

Wrex chuckled. "To take on the odds you've been given? Of course, it'll be a good fight, maybe with a lot of money on the line too, I'd like to see what winnings you'll get from taking down Saren, and, of course, getting my own share of it."

Tail stopped eating, looking at Wrex, then to Samus. "Actually, would you mind if…I, came along too? Saren did just try to capture me, and I still owe you, so it'll be great to work with, well, you. If that's okay?" she wanted to say with the 'Legendary Bounty Hunter' but she noticed Samus's reaction to such isn't positive.

Samus thought about this. "Well, you gave us what we needed to start this chase, and I know Quarians love their ships, and someone will need to monitor mine…you're in Tali."

Garrus quickly spoke up. "Well then seeing as your open to recruiting, mind if a cop comes too?"

Samus frowned a little at him. "Why? Wouldn't you be better staying here, at the Citadel?"

"To be honest with you, I think it'll be a good experience to see what it's like working with a Spectre, someone with a lot more freedom then what we have here in the Citadel, which is none at all. All the damn red tape gets annoying over time, and here is a perfect chance for me to get away from that, go after Saren, a disgrace to all Turians, especially those who are Spectres. I'll do whatever it takes to bring him down if you'll let me."

"Well, three guns are better then two. You, Me and Wrex, with Tali supporting our ship. Welcome to the group Garrus." Samus answered with.

"Better hope it's not a tiny vessel, or we'll struggle just fitting ourselves in before leaving." Wrex added.

* * *

…It wasn't.

It had been an hour after their meals, when Anderson contacted Samus and said for her, Kaidan and Ashley to meet her in the Normandy's docking bay. Motioning for Wrex, Garrus and Tali to come with them, they all headed there, and just outside the ship to greet them, was Anderson and Udina.

Udina smiled at her when she arrived. "Shepard, I have some excellent news for you. Anderson has decided to step down as captain of the Normandy, and as the commander, you are now in charge of this vessel."

She looked surprised, her eyes focusing on Anderson, as he gave her a small smile. "You know the ship, and you've gotten acquainted with the crew, it's silent, fast and efficient, it's perfect for a spectre like you. This means Kaidan and Ashley will also be going with you, so you have familiar faces if you need to do any ground missions."

Despite with him being pleased, Samus walked over to him, and motioned him to come with her further down the walkway. He did so, eventually getting out of earshot range of the others, who looked slightly confused at her reaction. She spoke quietly to him. "Anderson, you know I can't command anyone without orders of my own. You know I never wanted to lead."

Anderson still kept that smile, while trying to reassure her. "Samus, at some point, you're going to have to climb over this wall you've made when it comes to taking charge and responsibility. I think becoming a spectre is a good time as any. The crew at least know you Samus. They'll respect you."

She shook her head. "It's not their respect, or their loyalty before you even say it, that concerns me. I'm worried about telling them what to do, at what cost it might be to them…"

"You'll do fine Samus…You'll make me proud. You'll make Adam, proud." With that, he returned to Udinas side, and shortly, after thinking it over and cursing under her breath, Samus returned to the others.

"…I accept with many thanks, Anderson. Ambassador."

Udina looked behind Samus, noticed the three aliens. "And, may I ask, what are they doing here Shepard?"

"As spectre, I want them to also be part of my crew. They want to take on Saren as much as I do, and every extra hand helps."

Udina sighed, knowing she was right. "Yes well, I suppose that is true. Very well, they'll be included in the Normandy roster. Speaking of extra hands, we have a lead to help you get started with the hunt for Saren…Matriarch Benezias daughter, to be precise."

"She was last noted going to the Artemis Tau star cluster. She's known for her research on Prothean technology, and may be able to help on finding out what this conduit is, along with any information about where her mother could be. If we can figure out her location, we can find Saren." Anderson explained.

Udina then changed from being happy to slightly annoyed. "Also, Shepard, try to avoid unneeded confrontations. We gathered a report on Chora's Den. Sixteen dead, with an extra four bodies left in the alley nearby. It's safe to say you were responsible for this, weren't you? Just remember you represent the entire human race now. What you do reflects on me and everyone else, and I even have to clean up whatever messes you make."

Samus folded her arms. "Here's a tip then. Throw the bodies out the airlock, it'll save you money. There might be plenty more of them by the end of this mission, depending how long it takes. I can only try to make your job a little easier, but no promises."

Udina certainly wasn't happy with that response. "Anderson, I'll let you finish things here. I'll see you later, Shepard." With that, he walked off to the lift.

Anderson gave a little laugh. "Don't mind him, he'll handle it all just fine. You lot just make sure to take care of yourselves, okay? This wasn't exactly the way I expected my career on this ship to end, but, it's you Samus, so I'll let it slide." he gave her a salute, as she, Kaidan and Ashley gave one back, before they, along with Garrus, Wrex and Tali all walked into the airlock of the Normandy, going inside the ship. Just before the airlock closed, Samus turned around, and looked at Anderson one more time, giving him a small smile, before the door shut.

Anderson looked at the door, then slowly began to admire the view, at what was once his ship…

"_Samus?"_

"…"

"_Samus. I know you're angry."_

"…"

"_You need to talk to me girl."_

"_Why? Why should I talk to you?"_

_She sat there, in the prison cell, on the metal bed, her arm cannon disabled, but her suit still mostly active, her helmet off, left next to her, showing her pale complexion that she had now, and her slightly matted blonde hair, tied into a ponytail. She looked down at the ground, refusing to look up at him, as he stood there in the cell, over her._

"_Because you want to. I know you do. You've refused to speak to C-Sec since your arrest, you've refused to answer any of their questions, and you've hardly eaten anything since you've been put in here." Anderson explained._

"_He didn't, deserve that, David." she answered coldly._

"_You mean the AI on your ship."_

"_His name was Adam." Samus responded with._

"'_It' had no real name Samus. It was an AI. An artificial intelligence that tricked you into thinking it was made by the Alliance. Like how you were tricked into thinking the ship was created by the Galactic Federation."_

"_The ship, was granted to me before I left Galactic Federation Biologic Headquarters, the place I was sent to after my operation to save my life on the B.S.L station, when I crashed my vessel into the asteroid belt for recovery."_

_Anderson decided to sit down on a nearby steel chair. "Samus…I've never heard, of the Biologic Headquarters before. And I know most, if not all the major places belonging to the Galactic Federation. It sounds like someone tricked you."_

_Her head shot up, glaring at him. "A trick that helped saved my life, unlike what you did! You killed him!"_

_Anderson kept his cool. "Samus, I saved your life at the expense of your ship."_

"_At the expense of Adam damnit! Because of you his been deleted, destroyed, killed again! I lost him once at the Bottle Station, and now I've lost him here at the Citadel!"_

"_It was worth stopping you from being imprisoned for years, when your only going to be condemned for a few days due to your reaction."_

"_Anderson how can you be so cold about him?! That was Adam! Adam Malkovich! I know it was!"_

"_A machine is not a person Samus!" Now he was losing it. "Adam died on the Bottle Ship. Nothing, NOTHING, will bring him back for either of us! You need to accept that! At least accept the machine had agreed to this with me before I told the council!"_

"_He…he did what? You spoke to him?" Shock filled her face._

"_I went on your ship to sort out the lie I had to make. I needed to make sure the Federation, the council, couldn't find me out about it. The AI willingly let me into the databanks, and even agreed to lie to C-Sec if they ask any questions!" he stood up, walking back and forth a little, clearly annoyed at himself for letting her get to him, and her stubbornness. "Damnit girl! It willingly wanted to save your hide! Probably because it was programmed to, but still, it did it! It didn't change it's mind, it allowed itself to be destroyed! According to what C-Sec reported, it self deleted along with all the databanks before the dismantling of its core could be finished!"_

"…" _Samus fell silent. She couldn't grieve, she had done that once she was thrown in here, unable to get out…but he could see it was hurting her._

"_Samus…you need to look to the future. Leave the Citadel, go away somewhere, anywhere with other humans, stop being a lone hunter. You need to." He knocked on the door several times to signify he was ready to come out, and a Turian opened the door for him._

"_You're not sorry? Not sorry at all?" Samus managed to say, looking at Anderson with weakened anger._

"…_No Samus. I am not sorry at the loss of a ship and a machine." he turned away, looking out the door for a moment, before he looked back again. "But I am sorry for your loss of a…friend." with that, he left her cell, the Turian closing the door behind him._

"…And now look at you Samus. Look at what you've become. I mean what I said to you…I'm proud of you." Anderson said to himself, as he admired his ship one more time, before heading to the lift.

* * *

Samus was busy checking the engineering room and the cargo hold, checking over the ship herself before take off. Wrex and Garrus were quite content staying in the hold, Wrex keeping to himself and Garrus checking over their wheeled transport, the device known as the Mako.

Tali was in engineering, having been pretty much staring at the engine in awe ever since she was sent down here, and in the cargo hold with Wrex and Garrus, was Ashley, checking over their weapons and supplies in the far corner, something that Samus noticed and walked over. "You alright Ash?"

Ashley stopped looking at a rifle, and stood up. "Oh, hey commander. Yeah, just looking over the supplies."

Samus looked at the piles of rations and weapons. "Why don't you ask Garrus or Wrex for a hand? We're all in this together and they need to do their share of the workload."

Ashley shook her head, looking a little awkward about it. "No no, it's fine. I'm happier to do it myself really…not, a great fan of…being too close to aliens and all…"

This caught Samus's attention. "Oh?"

"Well, I'm a Williams, Ma'am. I take it you know about my family name?"

Samus had to think for a good while. "Williams, Williams…I recall hearing about a Williams in the first contact war. Wasn't there one who managed to save the Shanxi colony population by surrendering when things turned grim to the Turians?"

"Yeah…he was my grandfather." Ashley said.

Samus didn't seem to click on what Ashley was getting at. "So, your grandfather surrendered to save lives and that causes you to have problems with working with aliens because….?"

"His the first human commander, and only one of the war, to surrender to aliens ma'am. Giving up to them hasn't been forgotten by Alliance command. It's been a major stain on our family name. it's effected my father and me. This is the first ship I've ever been allowed to become a part of the crew on. I've always been denied this because of my family. We have to be exceptional, put that extra effort in to get noticed now because of him, much like how we humans have to work extra hard to get noticed by those of the Citadel."

"Go on. There's something else here Ashley." Samus suggested.

"I…don't, like the idea of other races working with us, okay? Eden Prime, was a human colony that got attacked by Saren, this ship, belongs to us, maybe Turians did help, but it's a human ship. Why should a Quarian, a Krogan and a Turian, be allowed to walk around it? I mean, it's state of the art. It's a brand new type of vessel." she sighed. "Look, I've, never needed other races before, ma'am, never even worked with them in my career, we can stand pretty well on our own. This mission to stop Saren, is a perfect chance for humanity to show that, don't you think? Why include the others?"

By now, Samus's face had gotten darker, as she took a few steps closer, looking right at Ashley. "Well you better get used to working with them, Ashley Williams. 'Aliens' have become part of my family. They saved me when humanity was too lazy to come to the aid of it's own colonies. If it's too much of a problem, get off this ship, right now, because these aliens? As long as I'm a spectre and this ship is mine, are going to stay. Your family name means jack shit to me, all I care for is what you can do and your ability. Are we perfectly clear?"

Ashley herself look infuriated, obviously offended by Samus. "How dare you say that to me…"

"The lift to the airlock is over there Ashley, walk on over if you don't think you can handle being on this ship, handle being part of a crew." Samus took a step back, folding her arms. "The first contact war is over. It doesn't matter what the Alliance, it's heads or high command thinks about you, only what you think about yourself and those in your team. Keep that in mind. Now, are you walking?"

Ashley glared, looking at Samus, then at the Lift, then back to Samus, but soon stood down. "No, Ma'am. I'm going to stay. Now if you excuse me." She turned around, and went back to checking the weapons. Samus left her be, and headed to the lift, going up to the next floor.

The moment the life doors open, Kaidan was standing there, waiting. "Oh hey, wondered what was taking you a little while." He begun to follow her as they headed up to the cockpit.

"I got a little delayed, had to talk to Ashley. We all set to go?"

"I believe so, all systems are checked out, and docking bay crews are ready to let us out and into the open. So, you ready for this?" He made sure to get ahead of her to stop her, looking seriously at her.

"Ready for what? Another Mission?"

"No, are you ready to take command?" Kaidan look at her with a look of worry. "It was only several days ago we had this chat remember. You sure you can lead us? With actual orders and decisions made by you? Not just suggestions? Something firm?"

Samus shook her head. "No, but I ain't got any choice in the matter right now. Just don't die and do what you think is right. Simple enough?"

"…Alright Shepard. Simple enough." With that, he moved out of her way, as she walked up to where Joker was sitting.

Joker looked over, spotting her arriving. "Hey Commander. Heard you got the top job of this ship now and ol'Anderson got shoved out the way."

Samus frowned slightly. "Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I personally would've wanted him to stay if I had a choice."

Joker agreed to that. "Well yeah, I know you would've, but well, if Udina feels the spectre needs this ship then well, it's your ship. So, anything you want to say to the crew before we finally take off?"

The commander looked at the controls, and pressed the intercom button. "Everyone, listen up. This is Commander Samus Shepard, our mission, is to stop Saren. Stop him and whatever the hell his got planned. It may sound simple, but if this turns out to be like every other mission I've been on…it won't be. It'll be a storm, one that blows against us, to stop us, but we have to drive through it, push back, and get it done. That's how it's always been. Every hunt, every battle. Push past the storm to the prize. Now let's make sure we get through it together, Samus out."

Wrex overheard it from the cargo hold, with Garrus standing nearby. He looked to the Turian afterwards. "Well that's one way to get to the point of what's going on."

"Not the most effective way of talking to your crew, but it'll do." Garrus added.

Joker was busy on the console before him, as Samus let go of the intercom button. "Well that was a good enough way to get things rolling. So, we ready now?"

Samus nodded. "We got a mission. Let's get to it."

* * *

1. To those who may wonder, the whole Mass Effect 1 segment will be pretty much Mass Effect with Samus. It'll follow the baseline of the first game, whereas the second segment, Mass Effect 2 and 3, will mix actual Metroid elements in, characters, races and so on. Think of this part being the backstory, the intro to it all, much like how Mass Effect 1 was, how it turned out to be.

2. The delay was thanks to Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires and Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2. Both games I've enjoyed using my time on, as I enjoyed Dynasty Warriors, especially the 7 series, and Fist of the Star is one of my favourite shows, so, of course, if the games good, I'll spend a shitload of time on it.

3. Beyond that…meh.


	4. Therum

"Well, I have some, decent, news for you, Commander."

The voice was of Dr Chakwas. She was sitting at her desk in the hospital room of the Normandy, as Samus was nearby, just having got up from the bed, got her armor back on, and walked over, sitting down next to the good doctor.

"All right. Hit me." Samus sat back, giving Karin a kind smile as she waited.

"Well, after giving you a full check over, it seems your still as normal as ever, except for a small sudden growth spurt by the X parasite, you're in good health."

Samus quickly sat forward, looking worried, that smile gone as fast as it appeared. "Whoa whoa wait, growth spurt? It's larger then before now? But, but it was dormant wasn't it? What triggered it?"

Chakwas thought about it for a moment, looking at her data pad in her hand, which carried the results of Samus's check up. "I'm going to assume it was due to the Prothean beacon you encountered. I did notice a minor reaction from the parasite while you were out cold after you were caught by the device, but it seemed like it was dieing. Suddenly it's now coming back, slowly but surely."

"I know where this is going. I'll need an operation soon, right? If so it'll have to wait untill I stop Saren." Samus was feeling tense. She didn't want anymore scars like she's already got on her body.

"Not anytime soon. It's growing larger on your central nervous system, for now, it's, I would say, not too bad. If anything, you might have more sudden waves of pain now and then. I'd recommend going back to four doses a day on the painkillers Commander. At least keep it masked while you handle the rogue spectre. The rate it's grown since Eden Prime is rather slow, so it shouldn't get too serious for some time."

Samus nodded, relieved, sitting back a little.

"You'll be fine, Shepard. I doubt it'll ever be as bad as it was before. Afterall, I'm here. Once you start breaking down again, I'll get the scalpel out." Chakwas gave a light chuckle, noticing Samus shaking her head and getting up from the chair.

"Gee, thanks. Well I should get going, gotta see Garrus and check if his settling in okay, and C-Sec haven't caused any trouble with my request to have him here. Take care doc." With that, she left, heading to the lift. Her mind drifted to when the X Parasite started to show it's hold on her, wondering why she was so stupid to not get herself checked sooner…

"_So where will you go then?" Anderson stood there, next to her, as two C-Sec guards were behind her, and before her, was a transport vessel, ready to depart, heading out of the Citadel to the worlds beyond._

_She had her power suit on, just it now lacked a few major things, as agreed with the Alliance and C-Sec for her release._

_All the upgrades she managed to gain back on the B.S.L station for her damaged suit, or as she preferred to name it, 'Fusion suit', had been extracted and stored away._

_Her helmet had been handed in, denying her the ability to go into any hazardous locations where the air would be inhospitable, and also prolonged time underwater._

_Her arm cannon had mostly been dismantled, leaving her with what seemed like a chunky metal bracelet around her wrist and a little up her arm, her firing hand free and out in the open, her pale, vein showing skin revealed._

_The power cells keeping her suit active, the core essence that allowed it to be disabled on and off at her leisure years ago after her suit was mutated by the Metroid DNA and X Parasite, was removed, pretty much shutting off all of the suits functions. Back then, the suit would disperse and be stored away…now, it was left on her, like alien body armor, light blue leathery-like bio-skin, and yellow metal fragments of a destroyed warrior suit._

_Last but not the least, she had to give up her family name. Without anything to defend herself, she was vulnerable, and with a reputation like hers, that was a very bad thing. The Alliance agreed she had to change her last name on the Citadel, so from there, any transports she takes, it'll be under something else, to put off potential hunters and mercs who don't visually see her. Those that do see her and her obvious remaining power suit…the Alliance have plans to allow her to have a pistol, but the license acceptance hasn't gone through yet._

_Being forced to leave so much behind only made her hate the outcome of what's happened here all the worse. "Anywhere, away from you." she didn't even bother to look at him, just watching others walk up the nearby steel ramp into the transport vessel, looking happy, chatting to those around them…some of them staring at her…_

_She felt she might as well be naked with the way they were looking._

"_Samus, just remember, you're not Aran anymore. Anyone asks, it's Shepard now. Samus Shepard." Anderson reminded her. He looked to her, and must've felt she was ignoring him. "…You'll thank me someday girl."_

_She wasn't. She just was thinking about how far away from the Citadel she would have to go to stay out of communication range with him. Soon, one of the C-Sec officers finally typed on his data pad to release the restraint on her Omni-tool, no longer embedded into her suit system, through her arm cannon, it was now just a separate program. She quickly began to walk away, heading to the ship, not wanting to extent this farewell any longer._

_That's when it first hit._

_Her chest briefly clenched up, her lungs felt like they had closed on her, and she just coughed loudly, stumbling, grabbing on the side rail and feeling like she could vomit something if she didn't stop coughing, gasping for air, trying to breathe. Soon it all stopped, her lungs feeling fine, her chest, sore as ever. What she didn't notice was the fact she was leaning right over the side, and someone had put their hand on her shoulder, and was making sure she didn't fall down. Anderson. "Samus? What's wrong?"_

_She shoved him back, away from her, before standing up normally again, looking over at the way out, the ship. "Nothing for you, to worry about." She didn't want to admit there was something odd. Not to him, no more signs of weakness. She wanted out of this place._

The lift arrived at the cargo hold segment of the ship. Samus saw the Turian sitting down next to one of the wheels of the Mako. He had an Alliance sniper rifle with him, tweaking it with a set of tools nearby, looking at it carefully, and seemingly having his entire focus on it.

He didn't even notice Samus walking up till the last second when she stopped in front of him. He quickly got himself up, putting the rifle down. "Commander. I almost didn't notice you. Something I can do for you?"

"I was just wondering how things are with C-Sec. Did they approve of my request for you to be a part of my team?"

Garrus looked around for a moment, as if checking to see Wrex and Ashley were busy or not, then explained. "To be honest with you, they told me not to go. They tried to deny your request, but the council allowed it. They felt being around a spectre is a bad move and might give me some wrong ideas on how to handle criminals….especially, well, it's you."

"Oh? I don't think I've left a bad influence anywhere. I just arrest when I can, and if I can't arrest, I kill or threaten them to pay me off."

The Turian frowned. "That's precisely what they were going on about. C-Sec hates killing. It's not a resort we should go to, especially if innocents are included. My dad even told me to keep away from you."

Samus mumbled under her breath "I can guess why."

"He hates Bounty Hunters and Spectres, so, you're certainly not on his potential friend list. I told him I wanted to just be out of the red tape, get to do some rough decisions, stop being restricted. I told C-Sec I'm staying here. They decided to leave my post open for me."

"Well, that's good. Hopefully we get a chance to let you do something risky. See how you handle a situation. You have your own moral standards, use them." Samus was glad he was staying, she needed an extra gunner besides Wrex, and a cop who wants to be daring is perfect.

Jokers voice then rang through the comm-speakers. "Commander, we've reached the Artemis Tau Cluster, already starting the sweep for Prothean ruin sites as per your suggestion, shouldn't take no more then half an hour to finish scanning."

"Good work Joker, I'll be up there soon."

"Aye aye ma'am."

Garrus then spoke up, just as he noticed Samus was planning to go. "Commander, can I ask you something?"

Samus nodded. "Shoot."

Garrus clearly thought about his question for a moment, before saying it. "It's about your…old missions. I know you don't like your past and all, but I just gotta ask, what, was it like? Landing on worlds, hardly any maps, nothing but your power suit and your own company for days, even weeks on end, against some of the nastiest known bastards in the galaxy?"

Samus folded her arms, sighing after a little while, looking at the floor just before Garrus' feet, her thoughts going back to Zebes, SR388, Talon IV and many others…those lonely, frightening nights, forever on her toes, listening to every sound, every minute, every second…she felt a stinging sensation coarse her body for a moment, before looking at him, uncrossing the arms. "Garrus, I'll…get back to you on it, alright? I'm not really comfortable thinking about it right now."

The Turian understood, nodding, before moving and sitting back down, fiddling with the rifle once more. "I'll be waiting commander."

Samus moved away, heading to the engineering room, wanting to check up on a certain Quarian.

She had found Tali speaking to the chief engineer on the ship, Greg Adams, someone who seemed to be enjoying Tali's company, as they were discussing about the ships energy core, before Adams noticed Samus. "Oh, Commander. Hey." He turned his attention from Tali and shook hands with Samus.

They were on good terms, Adams served on the destroyer type vessel, the SSV Tokyo, along with her and Anderson, and he was hand picked by Anderson to be the chief engineer on this vessel. He and Samus would often discuss the condition of the vessel during meal times in the past, something they had yet to do with this ship.

"Hey Adams. So, how's everything down here? Still in good condition?"

"Of course. Engine's purring along, all systems good." He answered with a confident smile.

Samus then turned her attention to Tali. "How are you Tali? Getting used to being in this place?"

"Samus, your ship is just…amazing! After all the ships I've served on so far, this is just, pure luxury! It's all shiny, new, advanced…a little too quiet, but I'll get used to it eventually. Thank you for letting me come on board!" Tali sounded genuinely happy.

Samus couldn't blame her, she knows about the Quarian fleet, how it's all mostly a rag tag convoy of ships. Old Bird often expressed how sad it was to see such a fine race go into a ruined state like they are now, with no real home to call their own. "You're welcome Tali. Just promise me you won't cause any trouble for Adams."

"Oh she's no trouble at all commander. Actually I'm wishing the rest of my crew here would be just as interested as her when it came to the ship. She's great to have around." Adams reassured.

Samus was glad to hear that. "Well, it's good we're all being friends here. Keep up the fine work Adams, and Tali? Be as helpful as possible alright?"

"Of course!" Tali answered happily.

The commander soon left them alone, and got on the lift, knowing it was perhaps time to see if Joker has got any results yet. Once she reached the top, someone was there, once again, waiting for her. Kaidan. "Shepard. Hey."

"Kaidan." Samus simply answered with, before waling past him, and beginning her trek to the cockpit.

Kaidan was following. "So, I've been talking to Ashley lately and I heard you and her had a, small chat, before we left Citadel space…"

Samus sighed in annoyance, stopping and turning to face him. "Kaidan, I wanted things set straight between me and her about what goes on, on my vessel. I said my part to her."

"You could've been a bit more gentle Shepard. I know your rough on the edges but come on, ease up. Some people do take pride in their names, especially if it effects their career."

"It's your gun arm and your head that matters in a team Kaidan. Names don't protect you from getting a wave of energy bullets embedded into you." Samus responded.

"Yeah but you need motivation, and for Ashley, her family name drives her to do better." Kaidan argued.

"There's more to it then that Kaidan. Her issues with others. Non, human, others."

"Look at the reasons why she's not comfortable with them. She's never worked with them before, the only ones she mostly met have been enemies to her family before, and thanks to her posted positions, she's never gotten to know any."

Samus…couldn't deny that they were fair points. She knew Ashley said something along the lines about never working with them during her career, but obviously, with the signs of being prejudice towards aliens, Samus took everything being said offensively. "…"

Kaidan took it as a sign that she was listening still. "So, can you at least try to patch things up a little instead of leaving it rough for the rest of the mission? Ashley respects you, and you're her commanding officer right now. She needs to know you'll work with her."

Samus looked at him, and eventually nodded. "Alright. Once we've found the matriarchs daughter, I'll have a little girl on girl chat with Ashley, if it at least stops you from bugging me over it again."

Kaidan gave a little chuckle. "Sorry Shepard, but someones got to make sure you don't cause a mutiny or something just because you like to barge through things."

Samus continued on, heading to the cockpit, where Joker was waiting for her. "Hey commander."

"Found anything yet?"

"Well, besides nasty looking planets, a few dead stations, and an eerie black hole several dozen light-years away? Only one place had come up with several Prothean sites. Therum. Old mining location, mostly abandoned now. According to traffic reports of the Galactic Federation, there has been a little recent activity in the area, an Alliance transport ship had dropped someone off at one of the abandoned locations."

Joker paused for a moment, and looked up at Samus from his seat. "Lemme guess, plot a course to land near the site?"

"If you can." Samus looked back at him.

Joker focused back on the console in front of him. "Well, if you want our ship to cook up nicely, then sure, why not. If you don't, I'd recommend taking the Mako out to get down there. There isn't any real big enough location for the Normandy to land at besides the long seas of lava."

"Alright Joker. Keep the ship in once piece while I'm gone." With that, Samus turned around, heading off to the cargo bay.

"Aye aye commander."

* * *

The Mako.

Samus has always regarded these things as stiff and lumpy, never the sort of machine she would use. When she had training with it in the N7, she regarded the controls as unresponsive and lacking feeling. She understood it was made to make people feel protected, but there's protection, then there's being stuffed into a metal box on wheels and with a cannon sticking out on top.

What made using it on this trip, onto this rather hot planet, rather horrible, was the fact that there was a big, smelly Krogan in the machine, along with a Quarian, a Turian, and two other humans besides her. They could all just manage to fit in, with Ashley on the turret controls, Kaidan taking care of the sensors, Garrus and Tali sitting in the spare seats for passengers, and Wrex sitting on the floor near them, looking annoyed at the size of the machine.

"How much longer is this gonna take? I can't stand being cramped into a space like this." Wrex moaned about once again.

"Long as it has to Wrex. Ashley, see anything?" Samus didn't mind the heat too much. It was rather pleasant actually, probably compared to her visits to Norfair all those years back, this seems to be just a mild heat wave compared to that.

Ashley shook his head. "Besides lava and rocks all around us?" the turret on the Mako could be heard turning a full 360. "Nothing so far after the small site we saw earlier."

"Kaidan?"

Kaidan looked at his console in front of him. "According to the sensors, the area is lifeless. We're going the right way to the main mining site."

They all felt a bump…then another, then another. "Sorry, seems the road's a little bumpy from here on." Samus explained, her eyes focused on the window view ahead of her.

"Bit late on the information there." Garrus added.

There was silence after, as they rode on. But that soon was lost when Joker contacted them. "Commander! Just picked up a Geth dropship, it's heading to the site, seemingly going the same way as you!"

Just as he finished, a dim blue alien ship flew over head and past them, easily getting ahead, and as it went, it seemed to have dropped off several machines along the way, which smashed into the ground, all closed up, before opening, and standing about three times the height of a human, on four machine like legs, with a head that had a glowing light at the end of it, much like the Geth.

The Geth Armatures. Walking small tanks. Samus recognized them from the information she knew.

"The hell are those?" Ashley had to ask.

"Doesn't matter, just shoot the damn things while I'll do the dodging!" Samus replied, quickly making the Mako skid sideways, and come to a stop, waiting, as Ashley aimed the cannon and it's armament on the side, an energy machine gun. Samus watched carefully from her window, and soon saw a certain brighter glow coming on the heads of the machines, quickly pressing down on the acceleration, and turning the Mako towards them, shooting forwards, as several round energy bolts launched from the heads, and struck where the Mako was several seconds ago.

Samus felt the cannon fire as much as it could, the machine gun almost going endlessly, managing to take out a few of the machines as Samus forced the Mako to go as fast as possible. Unfortunately, not all of the machines blocking their direct way could be dealt with by Ashley…

So Samus dealt with them, by using the thrust engines underneath the Mako, causing it to lift off the ground, combined with it's speed, worked as a ramming device, slamming through the Armatures, most of the time just knocking them down, into lava, or just stunned on the ground. Two received direct strikes into their heads, smashing them in, as the Mako shoved past, with it's driver determined to not allow the Geth to stop her.

Kaidan was shocked by her tactics. "Jesus Samus! The Mako isn't meant to be used like this! The shields are almost dead thanks to you!"

"Relax Kaidan, this junk pile of a machine can take the blows. You just tell me when we're getting close to our destination." Samus couldn't help but enjoy this. The metal box on wheels was her little battering ram, she couldn't do this with her old ships.

Sadly the ride had to come to an end, as one Armature, before Samus rammed through it, got a lucky shot in, the bole of energy striking the side of the Mako, it's shields had died literally moments before, causing the vehicle to skid, before Samus managed to re-aim it, and strike the Armature into the lava.

The Mako though, was hurt, the ram didn't help it as it suffered indents on top of the massive scar on it's hull down the side, along with one of the wheels destroyed. Samus felt it shake as she tried to drive it on, noticing that was the last armature blocking their path, but it struggled, and eventually, she stopped.

Kaidan soon assessed the damage on his monitor. "The thrusters and the cannon are still in a good condition, just the rest of her down one side is in a bad shape. She needs repairs and a replacement tire, although I think it can still go pretty well with one out of six missing."

"Repairs can be done on the Normandy afterwards." Samus knew they didn't need from here anyway…she noticed just up a rocky hill beyond this point, was the main mining site. "We can walk the rest of the way."

Once they stepped out, the heat of the place hit them, with Ashley sweating a fair bit, and Kaidan commenting about the dry heat. Wrex seemed fine with it, as was Garrus. Tali….well, it couldn't be confirmed by the naked eye, but once Samus asked her, she seemed ok.

To Samus, the heat was quite nice…as nice as the sunny beaches of Elysium…

"_What with the get up…"_

"_Is, is that, her swimwear?"_

"_Shut up. Don't you know who the hell that is? Can't you tell!?"_

"_Oh my god, it's the galactic saviour…"_

"_What's she doing here? Do you think there's a criminal?"_

"_I, I think she's here for a…break. She's just laying there on the beach chair…"_

_Samus was getting annoyed with the rather audible whispers coming from those around her. Humans, Turians, Asari…they all just can't help but try to talk quietly in her presence. All she wanted to do was to enjoy the sun on her second day here. She got a decent hotel to stay in, and this evening, she's heading to a local mechanic that can help remove the armor._

_Thankfully, the guy said he'll do it for free. He seemed honoured that Samus would visit him, kept calling her the galactic saviour. Heck…it was scary in that a lot of people she's encountered so far, especially in the bar, wanted to buy drinks for her…even the barman, a Turian, gave her one on the house._

_Speaking of her damned lump of gear, it was horrible to try and sleep in last night. Rarely did she have to back on her missions, most of the time she managed to get back to her ship and get some sleep, and when she needed to rest outdoors, the suit had decent padding inside for comfort…without the helmet, arm cannon, power cells…it just wasn't the same. She managed to get a few hours rest._

_Even now it was hard to relax with her gear on. It was getting rapidly stuffy inside, and she had to use a tube to put through her suit in order to pee, making a little hole in it down there…she had no choice, and now her stomach felt a little uncomfortable without going to the loo…she had to wait, the mechanic only had free time at around 6 onwards._

_She had her eyelids closed, seeing the sunlight through them…untill it was blocked out by a figure, who just stood over her…she gave whoever or whatever it was several seconds, before complaining. "If you failed to notice, I'm trying to soak up the sun."_

_The voice she heard surprised her. "So that's what your trying to do, eh princess? I didn't expect you to be the holiday type."_

_Samus quickly opened her eyes, her vision briefly blurry, before she saw before her, Anthony Higgs, wearing bright blue swimming trunks, and smiling at her. She sat up, glad to see it was him. "Anthony, I wondered where you went after I dropped you off at Aflair from the bottle station. How's Madeline Bergman?"_

"_She's doing, great. From what I've heard anyway. Don't often talk to her that much anymore. Think she's trying to move on from that incident." Anthony soon sat himself down on a nearby beach chair. "Speaking of moving on, what the devil happened to the suit princess? I don't remember it being this messy." He soon looked at her carefully. "In actual fact…what happened to you?"_

"_It's called being fucked over by a possible rogue science team who were creating Metroids, destroying their space station, a planet filled with dangerous life, and then getting fired from being a bounty hunter, losing my ship, NEARLY got my ass sent to jail for a term lasting years, and the Galactic bastards decided to take a fair chunk of my now mutated suit that had been done by said possible rogue science team or someone." _

"…_..So things have been pretty wild for you huh?" Anthony boiled it down to._

"_Yep. Things just don't stop for me. Saw asshole Anderson, he helped me lose my ship to save my ass."_

"_Well a ship is a ship princess. I'm sure if you want, you can get another."_

_Samus looked down for a moment, then, looked over at the wonderful blue sea. "There…was something more to that ship Anthony. It had a good friend with it…One I can't get back again."_

_Anthony was shocked. "They destroyed a ship with someone on it?"_

_Samus didn't answer. Instead she focused on the sea._

"_Say, princess. You ever been to city arcades yet?"_

_Samus looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Why?"_

"_Just wondered if you wanted to play a few games, get your mind off things. Come hang around with me for a bit. My treat too, you can have alll the credits you need to try and best me." Anthony gave her a smug look, as he got up. "Course, you don't have to prove yourself…"_

_Samus got up from the beach chair, smirking. "You're on."_

They could see the entrance to the underground mining facility. Samus wondered why there was no more Geth so far…surely they would have someone guarding the entrance if they had come here to make sure no one else could get inside.

"I don't like this hunter. Feels like we're heading into a trap." Wrex held his shotgun up, his eyes darting from place to place, looking at possible locations for Geth to be hiding out at.

"Agreed. Everyone, keep your kinetic shields up." Samus answered that with. She soon led them towards the steel walkway heading into the entrance, and stopped them. Listening out carefully, waiting for the attack…

….

Nothing. Nothing but a faint, distant stomping sound, slow, but soon enough, getting faster and more rapid, getting closer and closer and-

Samus swiftly looked up, assault rifle ready, and saw, flying over them in the air, a big, chunky looking, six legged machine, that soon smashed into the ground close by, landing on it's massive, yellow coloured, heavily shielded and armoured legs that finished with red spikes that it used for stabbing into the ground, it's central spot being completely protected by those legs, untill it rose up, it's legs moving away a little to show it's central armoured point, a round, silver painted cylinder, with one dark yellow glowing orb near the bottom of it, it's sensory system, and two machine gun turrets attached to the top of it, just appearing from within it's casing as it rose up.

A B.O.X robot. A once used security machine by the Galactic Federation that had organic components installed inside it, Samus had to destroy one on the B.S.L station as it had gone rogue, and eventually was infected by the X parasite.

This B.O.X gave them no moment to think, as it quickly begun opening fire to them with it's turrets, forcing them all to move quickly away from the walk way and go in separate directions to avoid being too close to one another.

"A BOX unit? I thought those things were decommissioned and dismantled by the Federation a few years ago?" Ashley quickly got her rifle ready and fired several rounds, all of them being absorbed by the leg armor.

Garrus quickly added things up, After taking a shot with his sniper rifle, noticing that it quickly responded to him targeting it's center by turning and using a leg to defend itself. "Obviously Saren being a spectre back then, he must've managed to buy one and keep it, and now passed it on to the Geth to use on us!"

Kaidan had just dodged several rounds coming from the turrets, and fired his rifle back, again, the annoying legs protecting it from harm. "The center point is weaker on the armor, we gotta somehow hit that! But these things aren't easy to get through!"

The robot soon starting stabbing it's claws-like appendages into the ground, as if digging a little hole, before lowering itself, protecting the cylinder entirely. The turrets on top folded inwards, and a hole opened up on top. Samus knew the machine from the encounter years back. "Watch out, it's either missiles or inferno grenades it's about to throw out!"

The grenades was the choice this time, as it spewed several out towards them, trying to hit them with the explosives, only to just about miss all of them bar Wrex, who got one right on the side of him, fire spreading over him in no time. Thankfully his shields saved his hide, as the fire soon died, and he was okay….though now furious. "Arggh, stupid machine! I ain't that easy to beat!" he quickly used, much to Samus' surprise, biotic powers to try and lift the robot….he lifted one leg, for a moment, before it forced the leg back down. It was too heavy.

The machine soon rose up again, as they all opened fire on it, and it responded with using the machine gun turrets, and, again, using it's legs to keep their bullets from causing harm. Samus was getting annoyed. She wished there was something overhead for her to grab onto, she could easily target it's center point like back on the station…she had to admit it was a good thing there was so many of them here that it needed to keep on a defensive stance, normally a robot like this would be jumping around and giving chance, obviously it's system is telling it, it cannot take that chance due to risk of exposure.

Once again, it soon dug itself in, and unleashed more grenades, this time not hitting anyone, as they all backed off…and due to this, the machine changed tactics a little, by also firing missiles after, managing to just miss Garrus, as he managed to roll out of the way of a few of them. "Is it me or this is thing figuring out the fact we can't hurt it like this?!"

It again fired more missiles…and more, and more. Samus was getting annoyed with this, despite the attempts at firing what was available to them, they couldn't get past the armor plating, even grenades, as they were thrown by Kaidan and Wrex, were countered by the homing missiles. "I REALLY wish there was some ceiling railing I could use right about now!"

Then, the machine shook like crazy, lifting itself up off the ground were it had dug itself in, and stumbled, it's legs being shaky, before the cylinder segment hit the ground, as the machine seemed, stunned.

Samus saw who had just effected it. During this entire fight, Tali had been only using her pistol now and then, keeping her distance. She had been fiddling with her Omni-tool, and managed to access it's systems via hacking, and somehow must've overloaded it's systems to stun it. Annoyingly, the legs were still in the way…

Samus knew how to sort that out. Soon, the machine began to recover, slowly lifting itself back up. "Tali, do that again! Kaidan! Wrex! Target one of the legs with your powers and lift it out of the way the moment it's stunned! Garrus, Ashley, Tali, when they do that, we all throw everything we can at it!"

"I'll trying to access it now!" Tali quickly answered with, before having to move to avoid fire from the B.O.X's turrets, a few of the energy bullets managing to strike her shields.

They all kept firing at it while Tali focused on her Omni-tool once again, Garrus managing to lay one hit past the legs on the cylinder…doing a tiny bit of damage, before it dug itself in again, and responded with missiles, this time one of them hitting him, and taking out his shields. Another struck Samus, doing the same, and knocking her back, the blast having been mostly stopped by the shield thankfully before it died off.

Tali finally got it, the machine shook once again as it got out of it's dug in mode, and it's center piece hit the ground, it's legs moving a little, shaking. Wrex quickly pointed out which leg to target, to which Kaidan nodded, and with both of their efforts combined, their biotic powers working together, the powerful, heavy leg of the B.O.X unit, began to rise up, out of the way.

Garrus, Samus, Ashley and Tali quickly rushed over to the direction of the exposure, and quickly began opening fire, the energy shots hitting the central point, the light steel armor becoming indented and damaged from the bullets, several holes soon appearing from where the armor was pieced.

Soon though, the machine began to move, to started trying to force it's legs back down. "Hunter!" Wrex warned Samus, as she noticed their opening was about to disappear.

Ashley decided to take action, by pulling out one of her grenades, and pressing a button it, causing small fin like parts to come out, and threw it, like a discus, straight at the center, as the leg finally came down, stopping the others…but not the grenade, as it struck it's target, the explosion causing the machine to take several steps back, and seem to have a hard time getting back in the fight…as Samus soon noticed why.

The sensory orb, as she saw between the legs, had been badly damaged, a good chunk of it destroyed, the wires and machine hardware exposed, the orb flickering weakly of light, as it tried to work.

It was blind, it was firing the turrets on top in all directions across the ground, it's legs were moving all over the place to try and protect itself.

They wailed on it, firing their guns at every chance they got at it's exposed center, with the machine unable to defend it's weakness. Wrex even dared to get close and in-between it's legs stomping around, he managed to fire his shotgun several times at close range, blasting holes into it's armor.

The machine soon finally collapsed, after they all shot into the exposed wiring from the holes formed by there attacks, damaging it's insides, and with a few grenades from Ashley, Tali and Garrus, it finally was beaten, the combined blasts causing it to stumble over to the ground on it's side, legs twitching and sparking, it's cylinder center damaged, smashed in, torn open…and soon, it shut down, no longer able to function with such damage.

They all look to each other, and knew they did a good job as a team, giving each other a look of approval, even Wrex was impressed by what they did together…Ashley though, who looked to Kaidan and the others, did not look at Samus, even as she spoke. "Alright, nice work. Now with that little annoyance out of the way, we need to head down into the site."

"To be honest commander, we should have a group of us kept posted out here, incase the geth decide to send an extra squad now their toy is broken." Garrus pointed out.

"Good idea. Who's up for guard duty?" Samus looked to them, wondering.

"I'll do it." Tali answered.

"Sure, why not. Could be cramped down there." Wrex was quite content with keeping out of tight spaces after the Mako.

"…I'll stay too." Ashley responded.

"Kaidan, Garrus, let's move." Samus quickly led them into the place, deciding that Ashley can be spoken to later.

* * *

The mines were a mix of modern Galactic Federation technology and of Prothean ruins, surprisingly decently intact, ruins. It seems from what the three could see, the miners gave up…or were shoved out, once they uncovered these ruins, or the resources they sough were drained dry, and just left the area alone.

As all three got on a mining lift that begun to head down deeper in the place, Garrus decided to speak. "So, I take it you met that kind of unit directly before Shepard? Because I didn't know the position it needs to be in to fire those missiles and grenades."

"The B.S.L station had one Garrus. I assume it must've went rogue when it came after me at one point. Tried to stop me from getting to an upgrade for my suit. Back at that fight there was railing I could use to get above the machine and unleash hell at it's center. Same for the second encounter too." She looked over the side, seeing how far the mine went.

"Second encounter?" Garrus repeated.

"I met it much later, just as I was about to look into the dirty little secrets the station had. By then it was infected by the X parasite thanks to it's organic components. Destroyed it this time. Then of course, I found out about what they were doing, as you probably heard what 'rumours and lies' I spewed out."

Garrus nodded. "My father allowed access for me to all the reports on your jobs, especially about the hidden Metroid developments. He never believed it, but I did. Everyone has their secrets, and creating an army of Metroids? I'd believe the Federation might try to pull that off."

Samus looked over to him. "…Why did he allow you access to my mission reports?"

"Well I wanted access to read up on the most impressive bounty hunter the galaxy has ever known really, and, to be honestly frank with you?-" Garrus didn't get a chance to finish, as the lift suddenly came to an abrupt stop, sparks coming from the machines it was connected to, the doors of the lift opening.

"Save it for later. Seems like the end of the ride." Samus looked, and noticed they were only a few feet from the second to last level to the ground. There was a perfectly good walkway to jump onto, and she did so, with Garrus and Kaidan following. They soon saw why the lift stopped working. Damaged bits of metal were underneath it, blocking the way…and damaging the lift now, as it no longer worked, meaning they had to find another way back out.

What Kaidan noticed, as Garrus and Samus were distracted, was, just a few dozen feet away, within a part of the Prothean ruin, was an Asari woman, seemingly held in place by energy, and a force field was in front of her. She seemed surprised to see them. "Uhh, Shepard? We're being watched."

"Hello? Hello can you help me? I'm trapped! Can you hear me? Hello?" The Asari girl seemed desperate. Samus moved closer, looking her up and down, as Garrus and Kaidan followed.

"What the devil happened to you? How'd you get caught up in that?" Samus had to ask.

"I was busy looking at the ruins when the Geth arrived a little while ago, so I hid in here, and triggered the force field, although, I fear I may have misunderstood this device, and now realize it is also a security trap." She explained.

"Well that what happens when you toy around with things…alright, how do we get you out miss…?"

"Liara T'Soni. Well, the console I used to activate this is on this side with me, and after the Geth tried, I don't think there's a way through this barrier. You'll have to look for a route that helps you get behind here."

"Why are the Geth after you? Are you Matriarch Benezia's daughter?" Kaidan asked.

Liara looked surprised. "My mother is involved with them? What is going on? Has something happened to her?"

Samus decided to save it for now. "We'll explain after we get you out of there, okay?"

Liara paused to think, seemingly unsure about Samus and her friends, but soon, nodded.

Samus and Kaidan then heard an energy shot being fired from nearby them, and both turned, to see that Garrus had been busy, now near the other side of the walkway, his sniper rifle out, and just fired it, taking out, as Samus and Kaidan came over to look, a Geth unit. "Seems like the Geth are hanging around down there Shepard. Want me to hold this position while you guys move in?"

Samus gave a nod, before starting to walk down the pathway, heading to the bottom level, with Kaidan in tow, hearing a second shot being fired from Garrus' rifle, and hearing a Geth make a gurgled noise as the round hit.

She and Kaidan soon stopped just before they reached the opening to the bottom level, which seemed to a big ol' mining laser machine, and a massive open area. She quickly looked up to where Garrus was, noticing he was looking through his scope. "Kaidan, the moment he fires, we move forward. Be alert, and shoot on sight."

Kaidan was about to answer, but the moment Garrus fired his third shot, Samus moved out of cover, rifle ready, and begun to move forward, already firing on a target. Kaidan just followed her as always, taking whatever shots he could at the Geth that had been hiding in the crevices and small caves in the walls.

They really weren't a match for the three of them. If any managed to avoid Samus, Kaidan would pick them off, and if he missed, Garrus had them covered from his higher position. Soon enough, there was around twenty trashed Geth across the area, and a one relieved Samus. "Well, that seems to be all they sent down here. Seems all clear now."

"Now, how to we get into where Liara is Shepard? I don't see a route we can take." Kaidan looked around carefully, soon noticing a possible way, one that led right into the ruins no doubt, but the amount of stone and rubble in the way… "Well, one that we can use now that won't take weeks to uncover."

Samus had motioned Garrus to come down, and soon saw what Kaidan had looked at, before thinking, and looking at the mining laser. "Huh, easy enough Kaidan. We blast it."

Kaidan looked at her with a face of slight, disbelief. "Uhh, do you even know how to use one of those? Miners have to be trained ya know, to use them safely without any danger to themselves. It's a pretty damn big machine, I mean first it's gotta be aimed, then of course, firing it…"

"It's a big gun Kaidan, that's all. Trust me, I know what I'm doing with this."

…

"Shepard, you REALLY should look at the energy output gauge before-"

"FIRING!"

Samus slammed her hand into the console on the machine, as the huge mining laser charged up it's energy, and fired a massive blast of red kinetic heat at the rubble and stone in the way, obliterating it in one fell swoop, the explosion noise vibrating through the whole place and echoing off the walls, shaking the place a little from the sheer level of power Samus had used.

The commander looked proud of herself, despite her ears ringing quite badly right now, yelling out to Kaidan and Garrus, who shook his head a little trying to get rid of said ringing noise. "You were saying Kaidan! I think that done the job pretty-uh oh."

She noticed that the console was sparking, and small electric currents could be seen flowing over it, making her quickly back away from the machine, and noticing her sudden move away, the others followed….before a large chunk of the mining laser, the rear part, exploded, sending debris all over the place, and forming black smoke afterwards, slowly rising up.

Samus had just blown all the energy conduits, in one use.

She noticed Kaidan was frowning after that, as the debris thankfully landed around them, and the ringing in their ears slowly died off. "…Oh come on, it did the job. Don't whine."

"It's not like anyone else needs it." Garrus pointed out, making Kaidan look at him with disapproval now.

"Thank you Garrus." With that, Samus walked ahead of them, to the hole they made into the ruins, which appeared to be in great condition, even with a workable lift of some sort in the center, that could led up to where Liara was, and thankfully, back up to the top floor it looked like, and thus, the exit.

As they got on the lift, Samus begun looking at the lift controls, not sure what buttons does what, but after pressing a few, it seemed to start going up.

Soon they were on the same level as Liara, who just heard them walk off the lift up behind her. "I, I heard two explosions and saw smoke, what did you do?"

"Isn't it obvious? Got into here." Samus begun moving over towards the device that was holding Liara in place, when Kaidan decided to warn her.

"Hold on Shepard. How can we tell she isn't really working with Benezia and this is all a set up? We should be questioning her while we have the chance."

Samus decided to answer that. "Well it seems to be well set up, I mean all that rubble really seemed to be placed well for a quick fix before we got here, with a non-preset mining laser that I just damaged beyond repair." The sarcasm was either obvious in the tone of her voice.

With that, she didn't even bother trying to work the device. She just pulled out her rifle and fired at it, frying the system, and making it release Liara, and shut down the force field that was in-between them all before. "Thank you, Shepard. Now, can you explain to me fully what is going on with my mother?"

Samus explained about the fact that Matriarch Benezia is working with the Geth, and with a now rogue spectre named Saren, on a mission to bring back something called the Reapers, a race of machines, and need to find something called the Conduit. She then told Liara that they were on a mission to stop her mother and Saren from finding such a thing.

Liara, didn't seem convinced on all that. "I…need time to think this all over…Reapers? The Conduit? I've never heard of such things before…"

Samus understood her disbelief, and wanted to explain, but her communicator went off. "Hunter. This is Wrex. You got trouble on the way."

"Trouble? Reinforcements from the Geth?"

"Yeah, first that damned robot went active again, then the Geth dropship came back, dropping off some extra friends, including a Krogan who's working for them. We had to pull back to the Mako. Only a few of the Geth gave chase, and we managed to bring them down. Couldn't fight them all though. The robot seemed to have gotten picked up by the dropship, before it flew off again."

"How many do you think are coming? Are you three alright?"

"I took a few hits, so did that human girl Ashley, but we're both fine. As for numbers, I'm not sure, just get ready for a fight when your trying to get out."

"Alright. Thanks for the heads up. Shepard out." Samus turned to the other two. "Got all that?"

Garrus nodded. "So, a little goodbye party before leaving this rock huh?"

Liara looked rather concerned. "More Geth? Why are they after me?"

Kaidan guessed it. "Rather obvious, your Benezia's daughter. She probably wants you to work with her, by force."

Liara wasn't sure to believe that. "No, my mother wouldn't allow harm to come to me…she never would…"

Then, the ground rumbled, like a minor earthquake…before cracks were seen on the cave walls outside the ruins, along with chunks of debris coming from above.

"Oh that's not good…" Garrus added to the obvious.

"Something must've upset the delicate stability of the mine and the ruins. They were already slightly unstable and at risk of collapsing when I first got here." Liara deduced.

Kaidan frowned again, knowing full well what has happened, two, things, that have happened, with the sheer noise, vibrations, and destruction could've led to this, looking over at Samus.

"Alright, I accept the blame Kaidan! Fine! Ugh, if it's not self destruction, it's collapsing in on itself…Let's move people!"

All four quickly got back on the lift, and pressing the same buttons as before, it began to move up again. Samus took this time to get on the communicator. "Ashley, this is Shepard, bring the Mako to the mining entrance, gonna need a quick pick up and lift off, this place is about to break apart!"

"Aye aye, ma'am."

Then, she got into contact with Joker. "Joker, bring the Normandy down for a pickup near the site!"

"Got it Commander, bringing her down!"

Samus then turned her focus to Liara. "Are you any good with weapons?"

"I, I have skill with my biotics, and I can aim a pistol pretty well." She replied.

Samus threw her the pistol she was carrying. "Just give us support as much as you can, we'll handle most of the fighting."

When they got to the top floor, entering the ruins from the mine, was the Krogan Wrex had warned about…not only him, but several Geth, one that held a sniper rifle, two with shotgun like weapons, and the others carrying rifles, while the Krogan carried a shotgun, he chuckled darkly as he saw Samus and the others. "Well, when I heard the job was going to be easy, I didn't expect to be THIS easy."

"I take it you've already noticed that this place is gonna crush all of us soon, right?" Samus asked it.

"A collapsing ruin, a battle for survival…it's wonderful, isn't it? Especially since I get to kill three of you, and collect the fourth, the Asari." The Krogan readied his shotgun.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you know what'll happen to your messed up corpse when I'm through with you, that's all!" With that, Samus pulled out a grenade, activating the fins, and threw it right at a couple of the Geth, taking two of them out straight away, their torsos blasted apart, before quickly moving for cover, as did Garrus, Kaidan and Liara, all avoiding the shotgun blast of the Krogan and the rounds from the Geth.

Kaidan managed to give a headshot to another Geth, while Garrus took a few shots at the Krogan, it's kinetic shielding proving to be rather tough, as the bullets didn't get through, as it marched forward, heading towards Samus, who was ready for it, quickly rolling out of cover, and raining bullets on the beast while running to another place to hide behind, pissing the Krogan off as he managed to miss again and again.

Liara had been watching the fighting, and didn't notice that one of the Geth had been sneaking up on her, and was about to grab her when she realized on the last moment, and used her powers to throw the thing into the wall of the ruin, smashing it's back, and stunning it, before firing several rounds into it to make sure it was dead.

Garrus and Kaidan had been diverted now by the Geth as they opened fire on them, leaving Samus to wait for the Krogan to get close, then jump out again, and open fire, just dodging most of the energy blast from the shotgun, a little bit of the hitting her shields, as she was ready to move out of the way to more cover. The Krogan was not in the mood to chase again, as his shields finally were disabled, and felt a few energy bullets strike him.

With a mighty roar, he charged at Samus, and smashed right into her using his shoulder as a ram, knocking the wind out of her, shutting off her shields, and charging her into the wall, slamming her body into it, before stepping back, and letting her fall to the ground on her hands and knees, holding her chest with one hand, and dropping her rifle.

"Annoying little human! DIE!" He aimed his shotgun, and, as Samus was about to force herself up to knock his gun out of the way and beat the shit out of him, pain erupted down one side of her body…the X parasite was acting up, now, of all times.

Thankfully, she had luck on her side, as a certain Asari had seen the Krogan knock Samus down, and used her biotic like she did with the Geth, on the Krogan, except this time, she just lifted him off the ground, with him trying to grab somewhere to top himself going up in the air, in this vulnerable state.

For him though, being launched in the air was the last thing he knew of, before he felt something hit right into, and through, his skull three times, before everything went black.

Garrus had seen what Liara had done, and after smashing in one of the lights of the Geth with the butt of his rifle and kicking it down, he took the shots, making sure to kill the bastard, before Liara's power wore off.

The body soon hit the ground, and the last Geth was finished off by Kaidan, before he went over to Samus, worried, as she slowly got herself up. "Shepard, what's wrong?"

Samus was just recovering, the tingling sensation the pain left behind slowly fading away. "Just, my medical issues chose the wrong time to act up, knew I should've taken an extra dose."

She noticed soon that the vibrations in ruins were becoming constant and more violent. "We need to get the hell out now! Everyone MOVE!"

Samus had forgotten what it was like to run full pelt without the Chozo armor on and regular gear on. Certainly more heavy then what she's used when running for her life, dashing up the walkways, just missing the odd decent sized rock nearly smashing her head in.

As they were going up through, as Samus looked down the shaft of the mine one more then, she noticed something.

The place was rapidly beginning to fill with magma. Obviously the seas of it outside had managed to breach the walls now, and was quickly pouring in. it wouldn't take long for it to get to their level, making her only push herself more, and shouting to the others "DON'T STOP WHEN WE GET OUTSIDE! WE GOTTA GET IN THE MAKO AND GET OFF THIS ROCK!"

The heat of the air met them as they escaped, Samus leaving last, and waiting for them at the bottom of the walkway, was the Mako, the rear of it opened and waiting, as the vibrations could be felt out here, a good distance above, was the Normandy, it's docking bay opened.

"IN! IN NOW!" Samus yelled to her crew and Liara, making them all pretty much just cram themselves into the Mako, with her getting in and slamming the button to close up the rear of the vehicle, just as magma blasted out of the entrance into the mine.

The Mako activated it's thrusters, lifting them all away from the ground that was quickly being covered over by the burning liquid, and up to the Normandy, as the mine begun to explode, splashes of the molten lava getting higher and closer to the ship, as it finally got the Mako, closed it's bay, and took off out of the orbit, leaving the place to it's fate.

* * *

"Well Commander, 10 more seconds and we would have gotten a nice new lick of burning hot paint for the Normandy. Ya know, because we've always needed some of the hull melted, frying our sensors...hey, maybe if you wanted, we could've gone swimming in the molten lava. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding sites like that, but hey, why not give a try huh?"

The sarcastic voice was of Joker over the intercom of the Normandy, an hour after their departure from Therum. Samus, Garrus, Wrex, Kaidan, Ashley, Tali and the newcomer, Liara, were in the meeting room, all of them but Samus were sitting in chairs circled around the room, with their commander standing in the middle.

"Joker, I've been in closer encounters then that before. Who knows, you might get the chance to try and get the Normandy away from an exploding planet in 5 seconds."

"Great." He answered in a dead, flat tone. "I'll just call my funeral directors in advance before you do that."

"Is he always like this?" Tali asked.

"Joker is allowed to be this time. He did save our asses by quickly getting the Normandy away." Samus looked at the Quarian, then, turned her attention to Liara. "You okay? You said you needed a little while to get yourself together."

"Yes. Yes I'm fine. The, shock of being chased by the Geth is taking a little while to get over, that's all…that, and they could've been sent by my mother of all people…" Liara hadn't gotten entirely over it, Samus could see it, but she was starting to understand.

"I take it your mother normally isn't the sort to do this kind've thing? Running to bring the end of life by a race of machines?" Ashley said to the Asari.

"No, not at all. She is a kind, understanding woman. To hear her working with Saren…Speaking of these, machines, these Reapers. What are they about? Do you know anything about them?" Liara sat forward.

Samus answered this. "They're a race that destroyed the Protheans, wiped them out. The conduit is what's needed to summon them back and do it again, probably to humanity, and all the Federation."

Liara had that face that showed she wasn't sure if Samus was insane or not. "Wiped out the Protheans? That's not possible. I've never heard of them before, and in my years of research, I've never found any recordings of such things. Where did you get this info from?"

"Geth know of them, and know of what they did to the Protheans. And from what, I saw from the Prothean Beacon, It may have been that same information. Fact is, it's a danger we can't ignore."

Liara now was stunned. "An, active, Prothean beacon? You interacted with one? How? …what did you see?"

Samus thought about it. "The images are hard to sort out in my mind. It's a blur, a fast blur, but from what I felt, what I saw, was death, and war."

"Well…Maybe I can help." Liara offered.

Samus knew what she meant with that. "Melding of minds? I don't really think that's a good idea…My mind isn't a place people would want to peep into, Asari or otherwise."

"Shepard, it could help you figure the images out better, maybe even give a clue to where the conduit is." Kaidan gave Samus a small smile of reassurance.

Samus obviously still wasn't in approval, but, with Liara being the only lead they had… "Alright, fine…But I'm not to be blamed if you don't like what you see, are we clear on this Liara?"

Liara was getting curious as to why Samus was reluctant, and got up out of her chair, heading over to the commander. "I'll try to not be alerted…now, Shepard, please…relax your body and mind…"

The Asari slowly closed her eyes, as Samus did so, taking deep, calm breaths, before Liara opened her eyes again, now pitch black. "Embrace eternity!"

Liara felt her mind fill with brief memories. The flashes of the images of war sprung by, shocking her at how quick they went, then, she saw an image of Samus being slowly pulled in by the beacon, hearing Kaidan call out to her.

Then, she saw what Samus saw after the images, the last one, of the Chozo that was her father, Gray Voice. Liara could only hear Samus's name being whispered by him, and one part of what he imparted to her.

"-_There are many people in the universe who need your strength-_…"

Then, Liara saw a baby Metroid, having just come out of it's egg, flying high, and making it's squealing sound, and saw, what seemed to be, a Chozo power suit arm cannon aim at the creature for a moment, before the Metroid got closer, making the same sounds, and begun slowly flying around her, in a passive manner.

A flicker of images, then, before Liara, was Mother Brain, with her large, hideous body, towering over her. She felt weak, exhausted. She couldn't stand, couldn't fight…she felt helpless, as Mother Brain began to charge something up within her massive eye…

Then, another flash of images, and for a small moment, she saw Adam Malkovich, dressed in his squad armor, holding his gun up, slowly marching towards a door from a dimly lit blue steel hallway…she was stumbling, reaching out to him…she heard Samus within this moment. "_Wait!…ADAM! WAIT, ADAM!"_

Liara felt a burning sensation across her cheek, as she was suddenly blocked out from the mind of the commander, woken up from her trance state…

Samus had slapped her, showing she could see what Liara was seeing…and obviously reacted when she felt Liara was digging too far. She was panting, the memories felt like they were fresh again…and had a few tears down her cheeks from seeing it again. Old wounds that she didn't want open…

"Commander!" Kaidan had stood up and walked over, noticing Samus was distressed.

Liara looked at Samus carefully, her eyes back to normal, and soon added up what she had seen. "You…the Chozo, your first name, the Chozo power suit….I don't believe it…"

Samus didn't answer her, she turned away from them all. "Everyone, dismissed. We're done here."

Wrex and the others were unsure of what to do at first, but eventually, Kaidan motioned at them all to get up and come out of the meeting room. He made sure Liara was okay, talking to her quietly as they left, leaving Samus on her own.

She didn't need to think about that loss, she didn't want to feel it again…Anthony understood her. He understood she was in pain over him…

"_Hey princess…how long has it been now, since that mission?"_

_Samus and Anthony was sitting on the edge of a pathway that was a few meters above the beachside. The sun was just touching the horizon, the people who had been on the white sand of the beach were now starting to leave._

_Samus had been to the mechanic with Anthony, and now, she was out of her suit. It was left there with the mechanic for now, who locked it up to make sure it was safe before they left._

_She had been wearing her zero suit, but it got damaged in the process of removing the power suit, so Anthony got her several new pieces of clothing, including something she was wearing right now, A blue suit, made of a cotton like fabric, and was a set, a long sleeve shirt and a pair of trousers, that was slightly loose, and covered her up to her hands, feet and neck. She was wearing a bikini set underneath, incase she felt like taking a dip, and was wearing a deep blue pair of comfy shoes._

_She didn't do it though, go swimming…she saw her skin for the first time in a long while after the removal of her damaged zero suit in dressing room after Anthony suggested she try several sets…it was pale, dried, and veins were showing in several areas. She was horrified. She was sure the last time she checked after the operation, her skin was a lot better then this._

_She couldn't even hide it all, even now…she looked at her once wielding arm cannon hand, the blue veins showing up on it…in her other hand, was a plastic sealed cup with a straw, containing a pink fizzy drink Anthony got for her._

"_Princess? Samus?" Anthony was trying to get her attention. He was wearing a pair of black sunglasses, a white short sleeve shirt, a pair of jean shorts, and a pair of green sandals._

"_It's been 10 months and 17 days, to be precise Anthony." Samus replied to him._

_Anthony then looked out to the sea, taking a sip from his drink. "…Still miss him, don't you?"_

"_Like you wouldn't believe….Still feels like his death has been for nothing too, the Federation never believed me about the Metroids. Then, and this last mission too. It would've helped if you were around, or even Madeline."_

"_Well I did warn you we needed time to get her somewhere safe. She didn't want to face the Federation, they would've tossed all the blame on her. By the time I managed to make sure she was completely hidden and safe, they stopped the whole investigation. Said they denounced what you said as 'A made up fictional story.'. That's why I just left the Alliance afterwards. Heck, if they weren't willing to stand up for you, I wasn't gonna keep following them."_

_There was a brief moment of quietness between them, before he spoke again. "Also, what exactly happened on this last mission of yours that royally screwed you over? You said about the scientists and all but, well, give me the details."_

_She did, she spoke to him about the whole mission, the SA-X, the parasites, the aliens she had to fight off, the revelation of more experiments by the Federation being conducted…and, eventually, admitted and told him about the good friend she had lost….she told him about Adam._

_She told him Anderson had allowed him to die again, and it was Adam that helped her end the experiments and the X parasite. "Adam was alive again Anthony. I knew it was him. He talked like Adam, watched out for me like Adam…it was him, but David refused to see that. He didn't believe it, and let Adam die."_

_Anthony had been drinking his drink, and now, there was a little slurping noise as it just ran out, the straw no longer bringing up any more. He put the cup down besides him, as Samus started taking a sip of hers. "You know David and Adam were very close princess. And David never trusted self thinking machines, so, to hear his close friend being turned into one…"_

"_He was a father to me, Anthony."_

"_I know, but David probably done this to spare you princess. To him, Adam was dead. David was one of the only ones who believed your testimony about the Metroid experiments on the bottle ship, because he refused to think his friend died in vain. From what you told me, if Adam didn't die again, you would've been imprisoned for years on end, instead of getting this chance."_

_Samus looked at him, a little angered. "You agree with David then?"_

"_Think of this way princess, what would Adam have done if the roles were reversed?"_

_She was silent…she didn't want to admit that, knowing Adam, he would've done the exact same thing. Afterall, it was just her who knew him in his AI form, no one else did…to them, it was no loss…_

_She sighed, and leaned back a little. "…I can't just let him go. I took me years to let Gray Voice go."_

"_You'll pick things up and move on eventually." Anthony gave her a smile. "Why don't we go and get a bite to eat? You must be a little hungry now after you finally…ahem, 'evacuated the rear section of your vessel'."_

_She frowned at him, punching him a little in the arm. "Jerk. Sure, why not."_

_As Anthony laughed and got himself up, when Samus moved, that shocking pain struck again, making her nearly fall forward to fall down onto the beach, but thankfully, Anthony grabbed her, as she looked like she was having a fit. To her, it was like being stabbed in several places with plasma covered knives, the pain was spreading throughout her, and for a moment, she was sure she was going to black out from it._

_But it soon wore off, and she noticed she was laying on the pathway, with Anthony over her, looking concerned, as were several people who were passing by. "Samus, Samus! You okay? What the heck just happened?"_

_Samus, could feel her body tingle all over, and with great effort, managed to sit herself up, looking at the small group gathered, then at Anthony. "It's…I'm not sure. It's been happening lately…maybe it's just being out of my complete power suit. Maybe I've caught something on the Citadel."_

"_You should it yourself checked up. Go to the hospital for a bit." Anthony suggested._

"_Yeah, Yeah that's a good idea."_

"Commander? Commander you there?" Joker's voiced called out over the intercom.

"Joker?"

"Just wanted you know we got a transmission from the Citadel council. They read your brief report on the situation with retrieving Liara T'Soni. Want me to patch them through?"

"Go for it. Patch them through into the meeting room." Samus turned and faced, soon enough, three holographic projectiles of the council members. "Councillors."

Sparatus nodded towards her. "Good work on finding T'Soni Shepard. I take it she's under detainment for now until you fully find out if she's working with her mother? Does she know anything about the Conduit?"

Samus shook her head. "It's not needed. She seems confused and concerned about the way her mother is right now. The Geth trying to get to her showed that. This means she's a dead end. She can't lead us to Saren. And for the Conduit, she seems just as lost as we are on that."

"Well, then let's be grateful we managed to find another one. We had it ready should this one fall short." Tevos looked over to Valern who explained.

"One of our agents who's been tracking some, business, on Noveria, has recently added in her reports about a matriarch arriving on that planet, and, after hunting out information, found out this particular matriarch is looking into Sarens 'investments' into the company known as Binary Helix."

Tevos then turned her attention to Samus. "We would like you to proceed to Noveria and pursue the matriarch, as it must be with no doubt, Benezia."

"Understood." Samus replied.

"And make sure not to destroy anymore Prothean ruins Shepard. We're trying to learn more about that species, not burn everything they had into the ground." Sparatus added.

"I had little choice in the matter, as it was the only way to reach T'Soni. If anymore ruins get in the way between me and Benezia, I'll blast them apart."

Tevos quickly raised her hand at Sparatus, who wanted to respond back to that, but was stopped. "If needs must Shepard. Good luck."

* * *

Garrus was sitting in the dining area of the ship, having a drink by himself, when Samus came down the steps and past the lift, just noticing him before going in it. "Ah, there you are."

Garrus looked up, and spotted her. "Commander. You alright now? Liara seemed to have worked you up a fair bit earlier."

Samus came over and sat down opposite him. "Yeah…just saw the past…didn't like it. I'll go and speak to her shortly. I just wanted to ask you about the lift back on Therum, about what you wanted to say."

Garrus looked away for a moment, unsure if he should. "Well, it's just about, your past, really. See, I know you have issues with it and all but…well…it inspired me. A lot. I kept reading up on your reports thanks to my father, read about the Chozo, their history, about the space pirates-"

Samus quickly knew where this was going. "-You're a fan."

Garrus nodded. "Even been putting funds on the side from my father and my own pay checks to create my own power suit back home. Course, it won't let me roll up into a ball or have an interchangeable arm cannon, but it'll be a lot better then this standard stuff we get. Been working on it for around 6 years."

Samus sighed and lowered her head, putting her hands in her hair. This is really what she doesn't need right now. Now she knew what'll be going on from here on out, asking questions all the time, wanting to know the experience, what was the tech spec of the power suit and so on…

"You being present Samus, is the reason I joined this adventure, not just because of Saren. It's to know you, and to know the feeling of setting your own laws and codes. Being a spectre can't be that different from being a bounty hunter, right?"

Samus gave out a loud sigh, before looking up at Garrus. "Garrus…"

"You were the reason I became a cop. I wanted to dish out some justice like you did, prove to those pirate bastards and any criminals that try to mess with people that they can't go around and do as they please with me on watch. I even tried to become a spectre, so I could get that freedom.-"

"Vakarian!"

That got Garrus' attention.

"I don't like having fans, especially of my past 'adventures' as a bounty hunter, who allowed it to shape their lives, on any ship Garrus. Most I beat the crap out of if they annoy me, others I just report to Anderson and he keeps their shifts separate from mine…You, have been useful so far, so what I want you to do is make sure you don't let your fan boy side hinder your use in our team at any time. Or I'll change my tune about allowing you on board, and personally put in a request to have you transferred back to the Citadel."

Garrus was taken aback a little bit, but, as he mentally thought to himself, he should've expected this from her, every time anything to do with those days have been visibly annoying or upsetting her. "Samus I didn't mean to offend…I just…" he nodded after a moment. "Of course commander. I won't let it. You can count on that."

Samus sat back after that for a while, before getting up, and looking over to the medical room, noticing Liara was there for a moment, speaking with Chakwas for a moment, before heading into the room next door. She was about to leave Garrus be, but remembered something. "…It was scary."

Garrus looked up at her "Huh?"

"Those weeks being alone, especially when you get into the deeper locations of planets, when your communications fail you, and it isn't easy getting back to your ship….it was scary. When you know everything was out to get you. When you know they'll be looking for you, and if you close your eyes for too long, they can kill you without you knowing…I wouldn't wish for anyone to know of what that feels like." With that, she headed off into the medical area, giving Chakwas a nod as she went by, and entered where Liara was.

Liara was sitting down at a desk, looking over a few data pads, just starting to read one, when she notices Samus had arrived, and quickly got up and turned to face her. "Ar-I mean, Shepard, I'm sorry about earlier."

Samus sighed a little, looking around the room. "I know. I'm sorry for slapping you. I'm just, sensitive about back then."

Liara nodded. "I felt your feelings in those moments. They were powerful, strong, controlling…That machine brain monster I saw…was that-"

"Mother Brain. Yes."

"I never expected her to be so large, or so frightening. If people knew, it would make them wonder how you overcame such odds."

"Luck and lost companions Liara."

Liara grimly nodded. "I take it that's what the man is. A person you lost…Adam."

"Yeah…"

The Asari wasn't sure what to say now, as Samus could see, so, she decided to continue. "So, do you know anything from the images you saw? The images from the beacon?"

"No, nothing I could recognize. They were rapid, and fast, the images of your past took over too quickly, as if they're linked. Either that, or your mind has been opened with a meld before."

"Well, the Chozo were the kind who believed our minds should be controlled, but not restricted to others. I was taught to open my mind, psychically and otherwise…obviously that's allowed you to look around."

Liara nodded in agreement. "It would seem so…I wish I could meld with you again sometime, or, at least, I'd like to examine you a bit more, especially due to your heritage."

Samus looked a little horrified and disturbed, on purpose. "Whoa whoa. You want to cut me open on an examination table? You want me to kick your ass or something?"

Liara looked shocked at that notion. "No! That's not what I…I mean, I just wanted to. Oh, by the goddess, I didn't mean to imply-"

Samus smiled a little, noticing she was getting the poor young Asari worked up. "Relax Liara. I'm joking. I won't kick your ass. I knew what you meant."

Liara looked dumbfounded for a moment, but then, realized. "Ah! I see! Oh by the goddess, you must think I'm an utter fool for panicking like that. I'm not used to false threats and jokes, even after being on several alliance vessels, you humans are quite vexing to me."

"It's fine. So, Liara, I take it by what you said, you wish to stay on my ship? I can drop you off at the Citadel if you prefer."

She shook her head. "No. I wish to remain on board. You said about my mother, no doubt you may encounter her as you intend to stop Saren…and if she really is allied with him…"

"You want to try and make her reconsider."

Liara sat down in her chair. "Yes. Especially if she really is trying to get to these 'Reapers'. Although I admit, I do not know what I'll do if she refuses to listen…"

"One step at a time girl. For now, I'll let you be the first to get the news. We might be seeing her soon."

"Huh?"

"We're going to Noveria to meet her…and knowing our luck, we might get the same reception as we did on Therum."

* * *

1. B.O.X is a unit that appeared in Metroid Fusion. I always believed it to have four legs, but it turns out, according to the wiki and other sources, it's six legs.

2. Anthony Higgs is of course, that guy. "Remembah me?"

-Dragonridley.


	5. Noveria

"What the hell do you mean you're done talking?"

"Does it look like these supplies will sort themselves out commander?"

"You need to listen Ashley. I wanted to say I apologize for the last time we spoke. I was out of line for having a go about your family name."

"Well it's not like you really want to apologise, is it? I bet it's only because Kaidan spoke to you about it. You're just doing it so you don't have to hear it off him anymore, because he cares for the crew. Unlike, oh, our commanding officer."

"You need to cool your head a bit Ashley, before I cram it into the engine core."

Wrex and Garrus were near the Mako, both of them leaning on the wheels while looking over to Samus and Ashley in one of the corners, having a 'girl chat', as Samus called it.

The girl chat was loud enough for both of them to hear, and has been going on for the last 10 minutes.

"So, which one do you think will headbutt the other first Turian?" Wrex asked, whilst listening to Samus and Ashley continue.

"Samus. Bound to be her. She'll snap waaaayyy before Ashley even thinks about it. What about you? Your thoughts?"

"The hunter. Hope it doesn't go into a full on fight. She can make things messy, like she did to that one pirate who got behind her and demanded she surrender."

"What exactly happened to him then?"

"Put it simply, by the time she was done with him, there was nothing left but a huge stain in the hallway."

Samus and Ashley soon had to stop, as Joker called in. "Commander, We're two hours away from Noveria. I suggest you all get ready."

Samus was looking pissed at off at Ashley, and soon stepped away, letting Ashley get back to work on the supplies. "Understood."

"Also commander, Chakwas wants a word with you in the med bay. She's got some concerns about the planet we're going to."

"Right." With that, Samus turned and left Ashley alone, and stopped, to see Garrus and Wrex looking…then both of them quickly grabbed a gun each and begun examining them, as they saw her give a little warning glare.

The commander soon arrived at the med bay, and sat down near the doctor, as she got a data pad, and sat down as well. "Samus, I have concerns about Noveria."

"Joker said. If it's about the fact it's a company planet and tries to keep it's ties to the Federation a minimum, don't worry about it, I've dealt with these sort of assholes before. If you're worried about the ship, Joker will be able to handle anything if the people down there decide they don't like us very much."

Chakwas shook her head. "It's about your genetic structure. Your Metroid DNA."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Well, as you know, Metroids were not a species that liked the cold. At all. As you spoke in your reports in the aftermath of your adventure at the BSL Research Station, your…'fusion' suit, was it? Couldn't for a time, absorb the cold X Parasites."

The commander nodded. "Before I got the Varia suit data download, which adjusted the fusion suit to be able to."

"But that was the suit Samus. Unfortunately for you, this cold problem will still persist. When you announced the plan to go to Noveria, and with all your previous check ups, I done some test runs on what would happen should you encounter the cold temperatures you'll be facing, even with a full suit on."

"And?" Samus wondered how bad it was gonna be, she knows Metroid are seriously hindered with cold environments…

Chakwas looked at the data pad, and sighed a little. "Your skin is dangerously sensitive to temperature changes. Irritation levels will increase more and more as you spend more time in the cold, as your aggression will rise. You may also suffer moments of feeling faint, probably due to your body losing it's fight to keep out the cold, this is all topped by the fact your immunity system will eventually give way….all in all, I highly suggest you remain on the Normandy."

"I would like to doc, I really would, but I can't just stay behind all because I might catch a cold…a seriously bad one but still. Garrus hasn't said anything about the cold, and his Turian, they hate it."

"Yes Samus. But Metroids were made deliberately to be weak against the cold in order to be contained and controlled. You won't be able to put up with being exposed to the outside temperatures for long before you suffer the worst effects of this weakness. The Alliance armor isn't like the Chozo power suit, it doesn't have a temperature gauge that helps keep you warm no matter where you go."

Samus sat back. "Karin, I need to go. I'll just dose myself up with painkillers, put a little more clothing on under the gear, and try to not go outside and explore, okay?"

The doctor understood that there was nothing that was going to stop Samus from doing this risky mission to her health. "Fine. But promise me, you'll be careful."

"I'll try to be doc."

* * *

Noveria, one of the few less welcoming places known in the Galactic Federation territory.

The Federation once held Noveria as one of it's official planets, but when development plans to help the planet turn into a habitable location came along, funds were an issue…

Then along came the Noveria Development Corporation. NDC for short. Who were founded by a unity of several companies to take over Noveria and use it as their own, making it one of the planets in Federation territory that is no longer under their control. The NDC have their own interests on what happens on the planet, and decides, with an executive board, on what company can do what on this planet, and normally it doesn't matter how dangerous or illegal it is, so long as there's money in it for the NDC, they'll turn their back on the law.

Back in the days of bounty hunting, Samus, so long as she showed her license, was allowed to explore freely if the board could confirm the criminal she was after was indeed on the planet….unless the criminal was a member of one of the companies, then they would try and implore her to leave them be, in exchange for a sum of cash…and it was always only half the bounty fee. The arm cannon was very useful in proving points with them and got them to allow her to hunt…very restrictedly, but was allowed to nonetheless.

She also knew spectres weren't an often welcome sight either, but the NDC seemed less likely to block their path, or do so with a lot less enthusiasm, probably out of fear of the spectre calling in a large amount of help from the Federation.

Samus was standing close to Joker in the cockpit, as the ship was getting close to entering the atmosphere of the light blue planet. "Get ready for their welcome committee Joker…"

And indeed, about several seconds later, on the communications channel, and female voice was heard. "Unknown Alliance vessel, you are now in controlled NDC space, our defence systems are locked onto you and you are being tracked. State your business or you will be fired upon."

"NDC this is the SSV Normandy, we are carrying a spectre on board, requesting permission to land."

The voice sounded surprised. "A spectre? We don't have any schedule saying a spectre is due. You may land in Port Hanshan Normandy while we check on any news about a spectre on your ship from the Federation. Be warned, if we cannot confirm a spectre presence, your ship will be detained, and you'll be arrested."

With that, the channel went silent, and being uploaded to Joker's holo-console, was the coordinates to the port. "Nice folk. Hey remind me book a holiday for this place sometime." He said, laced with sarcasm, looking at Samus, who gave a little smile, before leaving the cockpit.

As the ship landed inside the port, out of the blizzard occurring on the planet, Samus gathered Garrus, Kaidan, Ashley, Wrex, Tali and Liara to the airlock, and gave them a heads up about the place, explaining that it's best to have shields at the ready at all times. "If they don't like us, we'll have to gun our way through, as we can't allow Benezia to get away. Keep all your weapons loaded, and be alert."

"I'm assuming you've had experience with these people commander?" Garrus asked.

"Plenty."

It was as they went through the airlock, and stepped onto the docking walkway leading into the port did Samus feel her body right away react. She never really noticed how cold this place was, since every other visit had her wearing her full chozo armor at all times. "Fuck me it's freezing!"

Kaidan looked surprised as they walked to the glass doors leading into the place. "Really? I think it's pretty mild. At least you can tell the heaters are activated, hate to think what the actual outside temp is."

"The heaters are active?" Samus looked surprised.

"Yeah, even I can feel them." Garrus admitted.

Oh boy, Samus now understood what Chakwas meant by her skin being sensitive to the cold…

Soon they noticed that it wouldn't be a simple walk in. of course, the current head of security was present, this time a woman, along with two of her mooks, a medium length haired blonde woman and a Turian, and the cameras that had turrets attached to them were locked on and waiting. "I'm Maeko Matsuo, head of security, your arrival is unscheduled, and we'll need to see your credentials."

"Well the Citadel council don't give them out to their spectres. Didn't whoever let us land tell you about us and us waiting for them to look us up from the Federation?" Samus made sure to stand in front of the others to show who's in charge.

The woman next to the head of security scoffed at the notion. "A Human spectre? That's a bunch of horsecrap."

"We have to wait Kaira before we know if she's lying." Matsuo looked at her subordinate, before focusing back on the others. "I'm sorry, but untill we can confirm that, you'll need to come with us to the security office, and hand over your weapons."

Samus shook her head. "No. The guns stay with us. I've dealt with your sort before."

Matsuo didn't like that response. "You cannot enter armed. I must demand that you surrender your weapons for now. Kaira, secure them."

Samus quickly pulled out her rifle, causing Matsuo, Kaira and the Turian to get their shotguns ready, and in return, making the others get their weapons prepared. "Three and two little turrets on seven Maeko Matsuo? I don't like your odds."

"You attack me and you'll have the NDC crashing down on you!" she argued.

"You attack us and the NDC will regret it forever more."

Wrex looked doubtful at Samus for a moment. "I don't think they would hunter. Suppose we could leave a decent impression though."

Thankfully the situation didn't turn into full out violence thanks to someone speaking through the comm system of the port. "Matsuo stand down! We've confirmed that there is a spectre, name is Samus Shepard, and they have permission to carry weapons through the area!"

It was obvious the head of security was unsure about this, but eventually, lowered her weapon, and motioned at her comrades to do the same. This lead to Samus and her group putting their weapons away. "We're sorry about this Shepard. We hope the rest of your stay is less a confrontational one."

Samus knew that took some restraining to talk in such a humble way after what happened. "Well let's hope so. Let's go people. Time's a wastin'." She gave Matsuo a nod, and walked past, heading into the entrance of the port.

Once inside, they found the reception desk…being monitored by several scanners and cameras, and standing there waiting for them was a human tanned woman, wearing a tight red dress, who smiled as they entered, and shut off the scanners. "Hi, Noveria Development Corporations welcomes you to Port Hanshan. My name is Gianna Parasini, secretary to the administrator of this location, Anoleis. What is the nature of your visit?"

"We're looking for an Asari Matriarch, named Benezia. Need to have a little word with her. Any idea where she is right now?" Samus leaned on the metal desk.

"Benezia? Huh…I'm sure she passed through here about a few days ago. Headed to Peak 15." Gianna answered with a smile.

"Then we need to get there now before she moves on. May we pass through the port?" Liara knew they needed to move now they knew she was certainly here.

Gianna shook her head. "Unfortunately you'll need to speak to the Administrator in order to head to Peak 15. You need head to the elevator just down the corridor past here, head up to the main lobby, then head down the stairs. You'll know when you find the office when you spot to the two guards watching over the door. I'll let him know in advance you're all coming."

Samus frowned. "An Administrator, great. I know where this is going…"

It was a little while after this, the group now stood in a glass lift, slowly heading upwards, Samus was looking annoyed about…something, right now.

"…You okay Shepard?" Kaidan asked.

"Fine." She looked away from them, listening to the recorded voice of a man explaining about the rules and the do's and don'ts of this place, ignoring the entire group for now.

She was annoyed it was cold. That they couldn't feel it, not even Garrus could. That they haven't got a parasite jammed in their body that made them get an injection of goddamn bio-weapon DNA, that made them get scarred in the long run…

She couldn't deny it was her own fault though. She could've gotten the hospital people to look into it more, pursue the business about the X parasite sooner, but, she did believe the Metroid DNA dealt with it…

* * *

"_We can only recommend rest and recovery. I'm going to also order you some Diplaiotic, to ease the levels of pain should they occur from the aftermath of what happened. That's all we can do until we get the results back from your blood samples and information on this…bug you spoke of…"_

"_It's called the X Parasite. For god's sake will you just listen to me? I don't think that's the cause. It's probably to do with the Metroid DNA embedded into me, or the fact I've been constantly staying in my suit on most trips to planets I haven't had an illness for years, my immunity is shot to shit no doubt and-"_

"_Princess. Calm down, it's their job to find out. You can't just assume yourself."_

_Samus was sitting in a doctors office. A female Turian doctors office, the doctor in question currently sitting at her desk, looking at her holographic computer screen after letting Samus ramble on._

_Anthony had come in with her, making sure she was okay._

_It was obvious what also annoyed her right now was the fact it took a good hour for them to get the fact she was actually Samus Aran, not Samus Shepard claiming she was Samus Aran. It eventually led to the hospital contacting the Citadel itself, and after going through the ambassador of the Alliance, they got confirmation that this is Samus Aran._

_And now the doctors didn't want to keep her in for full on check ups. A blood sample is all they wanted._

_Samus huffed, and leaned back in her chair, arms folded, and waited for the doctor to finally tell them they can leave. "Fine. But I know I'm right."_

_Eventually, they were allowed to go, and Samus, without thanking the doctor, headed to the pharmacy side of the place, got her meds, weak-ass painkillers, and headed home, with Anthony following her, escorting her back._

_The stars were now out, and across the beach side and within several areas of the town, loud music and partying was heard from the others that came here to enjoy themselves, several groups that Samus had to walk by on her way back home._

_Once she got to her hotel room, she sat down on the double bed. Anthony stood there, looking amused. "I think someones got a black cloud over their head right now, don't you?"_

"_Rest and recover. That's what I gotta do, then that's what I got to do. I'll stay here and watched programs while laying in bed and feeling sorry for myself." Samus' sarcasm was something Anthony was quick to catch on with._

"_Princess. You can't just lock yourself in on a planet like this. Listen, why don't I go and get us something? A little take out. Heard the space cow burgers are damn fine from a place several blocks away. Get us a drink too."_

_Samus didn't answer._

"_I'll take that as a 'No, but I know you'll just do it anyway.' and you're right. I'll be back in a little while, don't mind if a take the ID card to let myself back in right?"_

_Samus again, didn't answer. She just laid back on the bed, arms stretched out._

"_Alright, see ya." Anthony grabbed the card from where Samus left it, and departed._

…

"_In the name of the Enkindlers, I shall stop the giant evil Prime Metroid from causing chaos across the galaxy."_

"_Hurry Blasto! You're our only hope to save the Citadel from the evil monster from planet UNKNOWN!"_

_*cue dramatic music*_

_Samus sighed, as she sat there, her legs crossed, having just gotten halfway through her burger, while Anthony was sitting nearby, eating ribs. "Planet unknown. I'm sure I heard them correctly say it was planet Phaaze twenty minutes ago."_

"_Blasto films have always been a little inconsistent with the dialogue. Surprised you decided to watch it."_

"_Eh, it's amusing to see how much they screw up. I especially enjoy their giant pink, clearly inflated dragenus called Ridley's half brother, 'Ridiculus.', and what name they gave Meta-Ridley, 'Termidley.', that, and the voice they gave him is hilarious."_

"_Did he actually speak when you fought him Princess?"_

_Samus shook her head. "To be honest he lost his vocal ability since the time I first pounded him into submission back on Zebes. Guess the pirates couldn't stand him gloating and mocking nearly everything all the time."_

_Thinking about Ridley in the days that he talked made her recall his words to her, the way he mocked her, broke her down piece by piece mentally, especially when he exclaimed that his wounds could heal and recover by eating flesh, claiming her mother was a part of him…_

_God that bastard deserved his constant deaths. Each time made her feel victorious…and the best thing was that he was always an added bonus to the missions. He would always come to her, never her to him, she never chased after him on her missions unless stated to otherwise, he just wanted to stop her, and failed._

"_I used to hear stories about him across the extranet. One of the most lethal pirates ever to be known. He was quite a popular topic for humans and turians alike. We hated him for the raids, and they respected him as a powerful enemy." Anthony said idly, as he continued watching the film._

_Samus leaned back a little, looking up at the ceiling. "You even got a close encounter with him. Bet that earned you respect."_

_Anthony chuckled. "Well, I would've stayed out of the fight if you didn't seize up. I didn't expect his revival, again, to hit you so hard, nor did Adam, So I had to do something."_

_Samus thought on this for a moment, before talking again. "Anthony, I blew up the very planet he was on. My old home. His capital ship had been lost prior to the mission, so his DNA couldn't be stored anywhere. I just…expected that was it. That I finally had closure."_

_"And yet you carried him, literally, to the station for those guys to rebuild him in some experiment gone wayyy outta hand."_

_"I don't think they even knew Anthony. I don't think they even guessed it would be Ridley. All they created was a little bird, with very sharp teeth." Samus turned her head to him._

_Anthony didn't answer at first. He seemed to have a serious look on his face. He then leaned back a little himself, still looking at the film. "They knew alright. They knew they had Ridley, but they didn't expect him to go beyond that stage, thought they had failed. Instead they thought they had a pet…" After another moment, he looked to Samus, smiling a little. "That's what I think anyway."_

_Samus couldn't help but feel there was something more to it then 'just what he thinks.', but decided to leave the subject alone now, especially as Blasto was about to fight Ridiculus._

_She could always ask another time._

_Shame that during the next three days, she didn't. she missed her chances, as something was going to hit Elysium hard after those days._

* * *

"I'm sorry but the answer is no. Firstly, Benezia is here in place of Spectre Saren, who has shares in the NDC. Secondly, You can't go to Peak 15 at this time. The current weather conditions are unsafe for land and air travel. Thirdly, We don't know the current condition of the place itself too, so I don't want an incident of you interrupting their work."

The voice was of the admin of Hanshan, a Salarian named Anoleis. Seeing Samus and the others wasn't a sight he wanted to see, and seemed more concerned with other matters going on at his desk then who's standing before him.

Ashley sighed in aggravation. "Forget him commander. It's obvious we can't get any further with him. Barking spectre threats isn't working."

Samus was leaning on the desk, glaring at Anoleis, obviously having tried intimidation, and failed. "Fine. We'll be on our way then."

Anoleis nodded in approval. "Good, because I have now 18 messages to go through while you've been standing around here. I'm sure you can show yourselves out." He then returned to his work.

With that, they departed from his office, heading past the desk his assistance, Gianna, had now returned to, and returned to the main lobby of the place, with it's dull concrete coloured walls, flooring, with several huge windows showing the outside weather, making Samus really shiver every time she looked at it.

"Well that got nowhere hunter. Maybe we should just raise hell to get out of here. Doubt they could have THAT many guards around here to stop us." Wrex looked around, checking where said guard were.

"Taking them down now wouldn't be much of a problem…it's the fact we would be chased down by the entire NDC for it, and the Federation probably would try to wash their hands in the affair, isolating us." Garrus pointed out.

Tali had noticed something. Out of all the beings here in this area, the Turians, Hanar, Humans and such, there were three that weren't Federation… "Shepard, over there, by the rocky fountain. Are those…who I think they are?"

Samus looked over.

Standing close to the created fountain, no doubt an attempt to spice this place up a bit, standing by themselves, were Luminoth.

A gracious and wise like insect race from the planet Aether, who stood at least double the height of most Federation member species, Samus had encountered them before during her missions. They were a race that the Chozo were on peaceful terms with, and have helped them settle down on Aether. The Luminoth of times before, the ones the Chozo helped, were much like the Quarians of the now. They were once nomads, who had no home and remained flyers across the realm of the stars. If they had a home before like the Quarians, the Luminoth have never said so.

Aether had been torn apart once, spilt into a 'light' world, and 'dark' world, something that Samus got dragged into, and with her help, was sorted out, restoring the world to it's peaceful state. She remembered one of them that tried to help her during that venture. U-Mos. Their sentinel aka their leader…and looking at one of these Luminoth…

Samus begun walking over, motioning at the others to follow. As they got close, it had alerted the Luminoth, who stopped talking, and turned to face those who were coming their way, one of them spoke up, and as he did, Samus knew the voice, thus confirming this, was U-Mos. "Seven strangers approach us…" He looked down to Samus, and after the group stopped near the Luminoth, he spoke again, having looked into her eyes. "Six strangers, and an old ally."

With that, he gave a deep, respecting bow, along with him, the other two Luminoth followed. Samus smiled at them. "It's okay U-Mos, there's no need to show respect. The woman you knew back then has changed a fair bit. Even by name. It's Samus Shepard."

"It matters not of what time has passed, what has occurred when we are apart, but of what you had done for us, the Luminoth. We will never forget." U-Mos replied, before he stood tall once again.

"The Luminoth…" Tali seemed to be in awe of being around them. No doubt the Quarians had heard of the Luminoth before due to their current nomad status. For Tali, Luminoth are the sign of hope of the future, that someday, should their old home be lost forever, that they too, can find a new planet just right for them.

And by the looks of it, this is the first time she's ever seen one in person. Granted that's highly likely, due to the fact they prefer to remain isolated on Aether.

Which led to Samus's question. "So what brings you here to Noveria U-Mos? It's a fair long distance away from home, and it's a very unwelcoming world compared to yours."

U-Mos sounded unhappy. "My world, though wonderus, has suffered greatly. During the years of rebuilding, we had to leave our planet to find resources to make our cities again from the battles with the Ing, and the meteorites destructive force. We cannot continue this for much longer, no more then around thirty more days. we have found our world running out of one of the components to create Fuel-Gel, Afloralite. Of all the metals and resources our planet has, we lack such a vital thing. We need a constant supply to keep going."

Samus folded her arms whilst listening. "Hence why you've come here. A world teeming with a vast amount of Afloralite crystals in it's depths. A planet owned by a company who don't officially work for the Federation, saving you trying to be accepted into their ranks. Still, I know of other worlds, and this one isn't the closest."

"Indeed it isn't, but it is the one where we would most likely get 'a good deal and a constant trade route made', as our assistance told us. Unfortunately for him, it has been a struggle to even get us a hearing so we can show them what we can offer in exchange."

"Maybe we can help him. I can't just leave you guys stuck. Where is he?" Samus asked.

"He is at the hotel bar of this port. He has been trying to speak with one of the people there, by the name of Lorik Qui'in."

Samus then headed off, with the others in tow, after U-Mos had pointed out which way the lift to the hotel was. "Samus, we really should focus on our own problems first." Kaidan argued.

And they climbed the stairs, leading to the lift, Samus answered. "We can easily get back to it. The Luminoth can't be allowed to just struggle with this on their own. Maybe some spectre enticing can help them."

"Like it helped us?" Garrus pointed out.

"Hey, what might fail with one person, could work on another."

Soon, the lift sent them up, and they found themselves in a rather busy part of the port, several dozen patrons hanging around, having drinks, talks about their work, the normal for a more business like location compared to, say, Chora's Den.

Samus soon noticed someone. Heck, he stood out, and was sitting nearby a Turian. What made him heavily stand out was the fact of what he was wearing, a blue, copy cat version of the Chozo Power Suit, known to him, as she recalled, the 'Hunter Pro 5000' or some retarded name like that. She recalled he made it from finding scrap parts of a Chozo suit years ago. What also made him stand out was his short ginger hair and rough beard, and his rather bulky stature.

He had the helmet to his suit on the table, and as Samus slowly walked over, she begun to overhear his conversation with the Turian, his northern american accent standing out from the rest of the folk here. "Lorik, come on guy. Can't you at least listen to what they can offer? Their ability and tech when it comes to AI is pretty damn good, and they're willing to hand it over."

The Turian, Lorik, sat back in his chair, shaking his head. "Mister Houston, I have to turn them down regardless of what they offer. I said it once, and I'll say it again, until this whole matter with Anoleis is cleared up, as the manager of the branch of Synthetic Insights here, I cannot commit to any new trades. You help me get that evidence from my office, then I'll be more open on the subject."

"But the security guards are there, right? What am I suppose to do with them? They'll get pissed off if I explain I'm there on your behalf!"

Lorik was about to speak again, when he noticed Samus and her little group. "Ah, I know who you are, Commander Shepard. News gets round quickly of a spectres arrival you know. Please, have a seat, I'm sure my companion here won't mind."

Armstrong Houston turned and looked at the group. "Wait…which one of you is the spectre?"

Samus nodded.

"A human spectre? Bloody hell. I'd never thought it would happen." Armstrong sounded impressed, giving Samus a smile.

Samus was, rather disappointed that Armstrong didn't seem to recognize her, but decided to just get to the point of her being here. "The Luminoth need my help Armstrong. They said someone was representing them here, but by the looks of it, you're having trouble."

Lorik decided to explain. "The problem is that I'm in a rather unfortunate bind as mister Houston has found out. I know the Luminoth want to trade with us Synthetic Insights for a source of Afloralite, but I'm currently being harassed by the administrator. The reason being is due to the fact I so happen to have found data showing that Anoleis had been receiving a sudden increase in funds via bribery, and he managed to find out. He has decided to lock down my office to try and find the evidence I have on him, and no doubt try to place it on me instead. I have already offered Houston that if he went to get the evidence out of my office and into my hands, I would gladly open talks with the Luminoth."

Houston then continued it. "But it's in lockdown, and knowing this Anoleis guy, if his really getting extra cash from somewhere, his probably got the security team in his pocket, and their going to protect that office from outsiders aka myself."

Samus frowned a little, folding her arms. "You got a power suit, you'll be fine."

"It's…not, in it's…peak condition…" He sounded ashamed and embarrassed about that fact. "I hadn't got it checked over in a long while…" Then, an idea seemed to enter his skull, as Samus expected it would, and even mentally guessed it right on what came to his mind. "Hey, maybe you can help me spectre! You guys are pretty decently armed, and you want to help the Luminoth too, right?"

Before Samus could answer, Ashley decided to say something. "It's all good helping those…moth people and all, but we need something too. A way off this station to get after a Matriarch called Benezia at Peak 15."

Armstrong looked gutted that he couldn't help them there, but Lorik seemed to be able to help on that. "If it means you'll help get the data, I can easily offer you my garage pass so you can leave to Peak 15 once it's returned to me."

Samus was annoyed with Ashley butting in, but, had to be thankful she did, as it paid off. "Deal. We'll fetch the data. Armstrong, let's move, you're coming with us."

Armstrong seemed reluctant, but soon stood up. "I suppose I have to, don't I? But my suit isn't in peak condition."

Samus frowned at him once again. "Armstrong, suck it up. If it can fire the arm cannon, then it's in good enough condition."

Wrex looked Armstrong up and down. "…You sure he'll be of any real use to us hunter?"

"I know him well enough. Lorik, give me the location of your office."

Lorik did so, and the whole group, with Armstrong now with them, putting his helmet on the back of his suit, with it attaching just underneath the neck segment, ready to come over and go fully on his head, should he need it, returned to the lift to head back down.

"…So, I'm Armstrong Houston, incase anyone wondered. One of the better known bounty hunters in the galaxy."

Ashley shook his hand. "I'm Chief Gunnery Ashley Williams."

Kaidan followed suit. "Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Pleasure to meet you."

Liara then did so. "I'm Dr Liara T'Soni."

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"I'm Urdnot Wrex, you screw up while around us, I'll pummel you."

"Garrus Vakarian. ExC-Sec cop."

Then Armstrong turned to Samus, putting his hand out to her. She just looked at him oddly, before shaking his hand. "I'm Commander Samus Shepard."

"Huh, I see Samus is getting more of a popular name. I used to know Samus Aran, worked with her a few times ya know. We were a great team." He then focused on each of them, before continuing. "So, uh, are you a crew or…?"

"We're all part of the SSV Normandy crew Armstrong. We're on a mission to stop a rogue spectre." Samus answered.

"Wow, sounds exciting. So why did ya decide to help the Luminoth then? Did they have information on this spectre?"

"I've helped them before, Armstrong. It wouldn't be right to just abandon them after they managed to restore their planet." Samus led them out of the lift as they returned to the main lobby, then looked at her Omni-tool, leading them towards the office of Lorik.

"Damn, that's impressive! Another Samus helped the Luminoth! Samus Aran helped them before as well! It must be a name thing! Have you two met?" Armstrong asked.

Samus gave him a real dark frown. "…Yes. We ALWAYS seem to bump into each other."

* * *

"Gianna, make sure my 15:55 appointment remains on time. Contact Goramer if you must and make sure that stupid Volus doesn't forget it again like last time." It was Anoleis, sitting at his desk, with his personal assistant standing in front of him, with a data pad.

"Yes sir."

"Also keep me updated on the trading process of Hamal II. There are reports of possible pirates and I want to know if our cargo gets through safely or not. I want to make sure we cover the expenses should something happen."

"Yes sir."

"Is there any update from the security team deployed in the Synthetic Insight offices yet?"

"None yet sir."

"Hm, I see. Must be taking their time to make sure everyone is out of that area. If they don't report in within the next 20 minutes, tell them to quicken their pace by any means necessary. Inform them I'm not paying them anymore then their pay checks if they can't be quick and efficient."

"Yes sir."

With that, Anoleis focused at the computer on his desk. "That's all for now, you may go. Remember that your break is within 3 minutes and 54 seconds. 15 minutes rest then return right away."

"Yes sir."

Gianna returned to her own desk, outside the office of the Administrator, and sighed in annoyance. "Always with the precise times…And if those guards manage to get Loriks data, I'll be stuck following these precise times for another several weeks before any other opportunity like this comes up again."

She used her own terminal to access the cameras of the Synthetic Insights offices, waiting to see the guards finally getting the information and leave…

Except this time, she noticed that several guards were on the floor in the offices. "What the…?"

She then noticed they had damage in their armor, and some had puddles of blood surrounding them…someone was tearing up the place. Quickly, she triggered her terminal to access the upper level of the offices to see what was going on.

Just in the nick of time to see Kaira Stirling, the bitch who decided to help out Anoleis with this little problem, get smashed into the floor, by a Krogan charge. Her fellow guards didn't seem to be much help, as they were gunned down by several rounds of energy shots from an unseen source.

Kaira was seen trying to get up, only for the Krogan to sock her across the face, making her stay down, before he lifted his foot and…..eesh, Gianna knew that was gonna be a heck of a mess to clean up, with all the little fragments of her skull across the floor and all.

She looked at the Krogan carefully, and was sure she had seen him before, and then realized where from, when Samus, Liara, Kaidan, Ashley, Garrus, Tali and Armstrong joined up with Wrex, and begun heading back downstairs, taking out the last few guards in their way.

"Well well, that spectre is certainly making things get better and better…I should go on my 'break' and have a little chat…"

* * *

"Armstrong, when was the last time you used that arm cannon?"

"It's been a…good while. It suffered a bit of damage a while back, when I was out chasing a bounty, kinda…stopped working since."

Samus glared at him. She wasn't impressed when he threatened the guards with it, and when it failed to fire, the guards opened fire, leading to them slaughtering all the guards on that floor. "It would've been easier for you to just stay quiet next time."

"We're gonna have trouble of our own now Shepard. We just killed a group of cops, I'm sure someone is bound to find out and get the entire port against us." Kaidan pointed out.

"Eh, If that's the best their guards can dish out, Then it won't be so bad trying to get through here by force." Samus replied, focusing on the lift door as it opened.

To the sight of Gianna standing there, looking at them all, worried. "Commander, we had reports of gunfire occurring at Synthetic Insights offices, did something happen?"

Samus wasn't sure how to answer. "Oh…Issues."

"Issues?"

"Yeah…they liked something, I didn't, we got into a fight…issues."

"Oh? You mean that they liked the idea of handing over incriminating data to Anoleis to cover his back, and you didn't?"

Garrus looked at the assistant with interest. "If you know about that, then you know what happened then."

She nodded. "Of course. I had a feeling Lorik had something on Anoleis, and with you guys taking out the guards being paid under the desk to find the data, I know he has something worthwhile."

"And I'm guessing you want us to hand it over to you, is that right?" Ashley was thinking about getting her rifle ready.

"What, so I can hand it to Anoleis? Pfft, no thanks. Allow me to, reintroduce myself from when we met at the entrance point. I'm Gianna Parasini, an agent for Noveria Internal Affairs. I've been spying on Anoleis for six months now, and what you have can finally get me out of this job and on to the next."

"The Internal Affairs knows his corrupted?" Samus was interested now.

"Yes, but unfortunately, he kept his tracks very well hidden. We need damning evidence to finally catch him and have him dealt with. With what you have, that's one part of what we need to deal with him. And, I know what I can offer you for it. You need to get to peak 15, right?"

Samus nodded.

"I can grant you a garage pass. Nice and simple. Of course, as I said, that's one part of what we need, the other part is getting Qui'in to testify with this evidence, as it belongs to him. If you can do that, then I'll hand over the pass."

Samus thought about this for a moment, before she decided her answer. "Lorik is offering more then just a pass, I'm also helping the Luminoth to establish a trade for Afloralite to their world of Aether. Lorik said his people at Synthetic Insight can offer such a trade, if I just hand him back the data."

Gianna looked surprised, then laughed. "Synthetic Insights just hold only 5% shares of the claimed Afloralite locations on this planet! They'll be getting a crap deal out of that!"

"It's the only one on the table, so far." Samus answered with, a hint in her voice of what she meant with that.

Gianna knew the hint all too well. "I know this game Commander Shepard. Lucky for you, and for me, I'm in direct contact with the executive board on Noveria, they're the ones who asked for me to look into Anoleis' business. You get Qui'in to testify, not only will I give you the garage pass, but I can get into direct contact with the board and ask them for a personal favour, to allow the Luminoth an instant meeting for a trade route. If the board makes the call for a possible trade route, all the companies will be there, and you can bet they'll work together to get their hands on the tech the Luminoth have. They'll be guaranteed a beneficial trade route compared to the shoddy deal you would've got."

With that, Gianna put her hand out to Samus. "So, we got a deal?"

…

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"

"Oh shut up and just let me 'cuff you! The quicker the better!"

Samus, Garrus, Armstrong and the others were all waiting outside Anoleis' office, standing at his once assistances desk.

Lorik needed a little persuasion, but soon gave in, when Samus pointed out he would be seen in a favourable light to the board on Noveria, if he spoke against Anoleis, a good opportunity for the company he works for, and himself.

Soon, Anoleis appeared from his office, hands tied behind his back, with Gianna leading him away, with a smug look on her face. Anoleis quickly saw Samus. "Commander! There you are, I demand you arrest this bitch at once! She's accusing me of corruption!"

Samus shrugged. "Noveria is pretty much out of Galactic Federation reach, isn't it? You're on your own."

As Gianna continued leading the once administrator out, she shouted back to Samus and her group. "Thanks Commander! Remind me to get you a beer the next time we meet! Enjoy your garage pass, and don't worry, I already contacted the board, they should be speaking to the Luminoth shortly!" With that, the doors leading out to the main lobby closed behind her, leaving them with the view of her pushing Anoleis along, with two extra security guards escorting him.

Armstrong sighed in relief. "I'm glad that's over. Hopefully the Luminoth get what they want from this."

The commander turned towards him, a question came into her mind. "Armstrong, why did you offer to help them? It wasn't just for money, was it?"

Armstrong scratched his head. "Well, half of my reason is that, a little bit of credits, the other half was because of Aran. She told me about them before, about how they nearly lost their world and she saved them, and when they put up a need for assistance at Omega's hiring board, I decided to do it, for a third of the price they offered. Felt I had to be kind, in honour of my good team mate….Do kinda miss her now, hanging around you and all."

Samus felt slightly touched by what he was doing, but was getting annoyed he wasn't seeing the connection. She was glad people from her past couldn't click it was her, meaning it would be easy to try and keep that time buried, but with Armstrong, the moron deserved to know, at the very least. "Armstrong. It's me."

…He just looked baffled.

She sighed in aggravation, and stepped towards him, grabbing his arm cannon, and lifted it up a little to look at it properly, and soon enough, was opening the hatches on it, and fiddling around with the insides. "Hey Commander, uh, I don't think you should be playing around with Chozo tech-" Armstrong started with.

Then, the notice a faint blue energy glow coming off the arm cannon, as Samus closed the hatches on it. "Try it now, fire at the wall." was all she said.

He pressed the trigger inside the cannon, and a blue round energy shot fired out and hit the wall, leaving a black burnt mark where it struck. "…How did…"

"You must've tried to fix it yourself. Most of the wires were crossed and inserted in the wrong locations. I'm surprised you didn't blow your arm off anytime before now. It'll function well enough, but to get it at 100%, we'll need to get some spare parts from the assault rifles on the Normandy."

It finally hit Armstrong, as his face showed it dawned on him. "Samus…Samus Aran?"

"Took you long enough."

"But, what happened to you? You look a fair bit more pale then the last time we met. Where's your suit? What happened to your purple hair? What's with the name change?"

"Suit got wasted Armstrong. Long story, but it slowly went down hill after the last time we met. Also thanks for reminding me about that hair colouring disaster choice. I got rid of it after the mission to Zebes. As for my skin condition and change in my last name?…well, again, long story. We can discuss it some other time."

Liara nodded. "Perhaps we should visit the Luminoth and see if things are going well for them before we head out?"

The groups soon returned to U-Mos and his two companions. As soon as they approached, U-Mos bowed. "I have some great news for you, Armstrong, and you, Samus. It appears the people of Noveria wish to hear us out as soon as possible, and have arranged a meeting at another port. We must part shortly, but not before giving Armstrong his payment for his service."

Armstrong quickly raised his hand to stop U-Mos. "No need. I did what I had to do, please, keep your credits and put them to good use for your people."

U-Mos was grateful. "Very well, Armstrong Houston. We shall not forget you for what you have done for us this day, as well as you, Samus, and your companions, having no doubt helped, I assume."

Samus smiled. "You stay safe U-Mos. Maybe I'll pay Aether a visit and we can have a proper talk together."

U-Mos nodded slowly in agreement, and then slowly made his way to the lift leading to his ship, with his companions in tow.

"They're, much taller then what I heard, and very graceful in their movement…" Tali said.

"They're a good race. U-Mos is a fine leader to them, maybe someday they'll reach out more and speak to other races on a more regular term…Hey, maybe when I visit Aether, you can come along Tali." Samus looked to the Quarian, who seemed to have turned a little sheepish at the idea of going to a homeworld of a race of high esteem like them…

It was as the lift had closed, the Luminoth disappeared from view, and as the group begun their journey to the garage, that Armstrong realized something. "Crap! They have my only way off this planet!"

Samus quickly turned to him. "Wait what? Don't you have your own ship still?"

"It got impounded at the Citadel! Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" With that, he left the group, running back to the lift where U-Mos had gone.

"…Should we wait for him incase they already departed?" Garrus asked the commander.

She shook her head. "Let's get moving."

When they arrived at the garage of the port, they showed the pass they had to the guard standing at the doorway, who allowed them through, and inside, was a Mako, and a longer vehicle, with an impressive artillery turret slapped on top, the predecessor to the Mako, the M29 Grizzly. It was more designed for heavy combat, in comparison to the Mako, which relied on speed and quick adjustments to the environment. Both were ready to go.

Except the group wasn't going just yet. Samus quickly noticed something on the wall nearby, and pulled out her rifle, firing at the creature, as it gave a little screech of pain, before falling and hitting the floor.

Geth. "On your toes people! We got company!" Samus quickly shouted out, noticing several Geth suddenly coming out from behind the metal crates stashed here in the garage, holding their rifles and opening fire.

Wrex quickly starts pumping his shotgun, firing several rounds at the Geth, taking two out, as Kaidan uses his Biotics, and knocks a third off it's feet, before moving to cover with Samus and Liara.

Tali had taken cover with Garrus, who managed to gun down a couple himself. "Damnit, seems like Benezia must've known we were coming and left a present!"

"Seems like it! But it's not that many!" Ashley ducked down near the Mako, and used her rifle to give one of the geth several holes in it's body, before it kneeled over.

Samus quickly moved from her position and fired, shooting down the last of the geth with relative ease, though, she had to admit, she was sure one was blasted back by a shotgun round from Wrex, but hey, at least they're-

"Samus up above!" Kaidan shouted.

She quickly aimed her rifle upwards, as one of the Geth was on the ceiling, with his hands and feet, looking down at her, ready to pounce, when a few blue energy shots fired at it, hitting it all in the chest, making it release it's grip, and fall, hitting the ground as Samus moved out of it way.

It was still alive, as it twitched, and looked up to Samus, before she fired a single round straight through it's head.

The one assisted her with that kill, was none other then Armstrong, as he entered the garage, lowering his arm cannon, and no doubt smiling like an idiot underneath that helmet of his. "Hey it's really working well now, bet ya thankful on fixing it for me huh?"

Samus holstered her rifle away, as did the others with their weapons, before she walked over to the bounty hunter, who pushed his helmet up to make it move and fold back. "So, I assume the Luminoth have gone without you?"

"Well, to put simply, yeah. I was gonna have this whole 'I decided to come back because I felt you needed me' story, but…yeah."

"So…No money either? To grab a ride to whenever the Luminoth went?"

"Uh huh."

"And I'm guessing you want to be partners again because you have no where else to turn to?"

"Prrrretty much….if, ya don't mind, of course. I know it's been years since our last venture but, hey, that went kinda well, didn't it?"

Samus folded her arms, thinking for a moment. "…Fine, you're in. You can help us track down Saren. Welcome to the team. Now come on, let's move before Maeko comes to complain about the gunfire and bodies."

* * *

She was cursing.

She was swearing.

She was speaking some of the foul language in the tongue of the Chozo, which the universal translators seemed to struggle with.

She felt like she had just been tossed into a bath filled with ice. Her mind was demanding her body calm down and focus on the driving, but her body was beginning to disobey.

She felt angry, pissed off, and only felt slight relief when the odd unfortunate Geth that Benezia had stationed on the snowy path to Peak 15 got in the way of the Mako.

In the Mako with her, was Garrus controlling the turret, Liara on the sensors, and Wrex sitting at the back in one of the spare seats…well, he should be, but right now, he prefers to stand and watch the view.

"Samus, you need to stop swerving so much, it's hard to aim this thing like that." Garrus was trying his hardest to compensate for Samus' erratic movements, but half the time right now, he was missing the Geth, even the large targets like the armature.

Thankfully they were supported by the Grizzly, which was being driven by Armstrong, on the main gun, Ashley, on the sensors, Tali, and standing up, noticing the Mako constantly turning left and right as it tried to keep moving forward, was Kaidan.

He contacted Samus via the comm device in the Grizzly, standing next to Tali as he did so. "Griz to Mako, commander what the hell is going on? Is the Mako suffering from damage? I didn't see the shields go down."

"I'm fine! I can handle this! Leave me alone!" With that, Samus shut off the communication.

"…Tali how far away are we from our target destination?" Kaidan asked the Quarian.

"20 Kilometres and closing."

Armstrong then spoke up. "So, what's up with Samus Kaidan? She drunk?"

"I'm not sure…but I'm worried."

Liara, back in the Mako, noticed Samus couldn't stop shaking, turning away from the sensors for a little while. "Shepard, what's the matter? It's like your freezing cold."

Garrus shook his head. "I doubt it's that. It's warm in here to me."

"Let me focus Goddamnit!" Samus gritted her teeth, she could see Peak 15 now in the blizzard…god just looking at the cold was making her worse.

The last Geth turret tower that stood in their way was blasted apart by the grizzly's cannon, at last allowing them to stop outside Peak 15...which led to one major problem, getting inside.

There was a grizzly, a ruined one, blocking the way in for the machines, leaving the side entrance for personnel on foot to get in. Armstrong, Ashley, Tali and Kaidan got out of the Grizzly, the humans of the group wearing their helmets to complete their gear and to keep out the cold, quickly going over to the Mako and waiting for the others.

Wrex, Garrus and Liara came out, wearing their full suits as well, and struggling behind them, was Samus, who slowly stepped out of the Mako, shivering like crazy despite having everything on that's needed, rubbing her arms constantly, and just…seemed like she was going to have a fit.

Kaidan motioned at them all to follow him, and led them to the side entrance. "Come on, we need to get in before the cold gets to any of us." He explained through his helmet. He made sure the others got in, and noticed one person missing, looking back.

Samus was literally stepping towards him at a snails pace, her breathing rapid, and desperate. "C-cold, too cold, can't, can't breathe, properly, struggling, can't focus, I just, can't…" She felt a pair of hands hold her arms, and Kaidan was there besides her, leading her to the doorway.

As soon as they got in, Wrex made sure the door was closed behind them, as Kaidan led Samus to one of the nearby walls and helped her sit down, as she removed her helmet, the air here quickly warming up. She was panting heavily, and coughed a few times, still trying to stop herself shaking. "Shepard, what the hell is going on here? Are you ill?" Kaidan was deeply concerned now.

Liara activated her Omni-tool, and done a little scan of Samus, checking her body. "…By the goddess, she's literally freezing, her body temperature is much lower then it should be for a human! Her heart is beating at an irregular pace!"

Kaidan was still trying to get an answer from his commanding officer. "Shepard, what can we do to help? Did your armor fail to seal correctly?"

She couldn't answer, every time she opened her mouth, it was to gulp in some air to try and still breathe, her body was refusing to warm back up after experiencing that bitter cold.

Garrus had soon figured it out. "Wait, maybe this has something to do with the time she needed Metroid DNA to survive. I remember one of her mission reports, it said about her being injected with the stuff. Metroids aren't fond of the cold at all, it's the only way to kill one or suppress it."

"Then we need to increase the energy output in her armor to keep her temperature high, enough so that at least she can breathe normally." Tali suggested.

"Our gear simply adjusts automatically to the environment outside our suits, we can't change it manually without hacking or making the adjustments on the Normandy, because she needs to remove the gear." Ashley pointed out to Tali, who when activated her Omni-tool.

"Lucky for you I'm here, it should be easy to do from this."

It took a good minute, but soon, Tali had got in the simplistic armor system, and made it forcefully keep a constant higher temperature, only a little bit more then a normal Human level.

Inside her gear, Samus felt this sudden hot blast cover her body, causing her to stiffen up for a several moments, and slowly, felt the new warmth soak in, her body accepting it with open arms, her breathing slowing and starting to relax, as she leaned back, and took slow, deep breaths.

Kaidan was relieved. As Samus sat forward, trying to get herself going again, he quickly helped her back on her feet, holding onto her, making sure she was stable enough. "Commander, why the hell did you come down here? Did you know this would happen?"

"…." Samus found her strength, and made him let go, moving away from them, and getting her rifle out, checking it for a moment, trying to get her mind together, from the close to freezing state she was in a few moments before. Like a Metroid, her recovery from the freezing temp was fast. "Chakwas said it would effect me. I didn't expect it to turn that bad."

Houston was just, baffled now. "What in the devil happened to you since we last met Samus? I mean…Metroid DNA?"

Samus chose to ignore him for the moment. "We need to press on. Thank you Tali, I'll be fine now."

"Actually, you won't be fine Shepard. I had to divert the energy output from your kinetic shields to keep the risen temperature at a constant rate. It's the best I could do on such short notice. Your shielding is only working at 50%." Tali activated her Omni-tool and made a small display screen appear, showing that the energy levels of the armor had been diverted as she said, leaving Samus at a higher risk of being harmed.

"If a Geth trooper takes a couple of shots at you commander, those shields will be gone, and with your armor being shot at, you have a good chance of it breaking down faster then normal. You'll need to hang back." Garrus suggested.

"Hang back?" Boy did Samus not like the sound of that.

"It's a good idea. Perhaps be more of a support role, a sniper, to be safe." Kaidan was open to the idea.

Samus wasn't. "No. I need to be at the front. I need to be in the action. I can't watch you guys do most of the fighting."

"Well you need to. For your sake." Ashley frowned. "If you charge out and get gunned down, that ain't gonna make us feel good is it? You're not in the fittest state to fight head on, so keep back and let us handle this." With that, the Gunnery Chief walked past Samus, holding her own rifle ready, towards the door, before, as she reached it, turning around to face the others.

"I suggest Garrus, Armstrong and the commander, respectfully, keep back and act as the support group, while the rest of us take most of the shots."

Samus was shocked…did Ashley just try and take over, telling her what to do? "Excuse me?"

"That's not a bad idea. We can pick the enemies off that they miss and keep you safe." the Turian turned to Samus, noticing then, that the commander's shocked face was turning into one of anger towards Ashley.

Kaidan noticed, and moved up towards Samus. "Shepard, it's not a bad idea. Just for this mission, you keep to the back. Alright?"

Samus glared at him. "…Fine." With that, Ashley, Liara, Tali and Wrex all went towards the door, while Kaidan was about to do so, but overheard Samus say to him "But when we're done here, Ashley and me are going to have a little talk on the Normandy."

* * *

The Asari known as Benezia, was within the depths of Peak 15, known as the Rift Station. She had stepped into a private small room, which had a computer terminal.

Once she sat down, closing the door behind her and locking it to avoid any intrusion, she used the terminal to establish contact with the one she was supporting. Saren. "I have news. I've completed the extraction from the queen. We have the coordinates to the Mu Relay. The Rachni are unfortunately lost to us. It seems the ones we've got from the queen, separated from her, have gone rogue."

"It matters little about them. With the information of the Mu Relay, That's one part of what we need. Your underling right now is almost done with the Thorian. I'll be leaving her behind afterwards."

"Of course."

"Any news of the hunter? After seeing the visual recordings from that B.O.X unit, whilst it's in for repairs, she's trying to get on our tails."

"She's here. Anoleis kindly informed me the moment the SSV Normandy arrived. She's fast, just like you said she would be." Benezia looked concerned over this. "What's worse, she has also begun making her way to Peak 15. I doubt I have much time left. What are your orders?"

"…Stall her. Do as much as you can. Kill her if possible, but be warned. This hunter has slain many foes in her time."

"Very well. I shall do as you ask."

The matriarch was about to shut off the terminal, when Saren asked something else. "What of our, short term ally?"

"That hunter has managed to convince the guards at the rift station to follow us. He seems to know the captain well. I'm going to hand him the information on the Rachni as he demanded. Then he'll no doubt leave to come to you at Feros. He wants information on the Thorian."

"Hmmm.."

"He doesn't seem to want to trail after us beyond that. He seems to just be collecting data. And it was thanks to him we have that B.O.X unit."

"He has his uses for now. It won't matter at the end once we get to the conduit, his life with end along with the rest of the population in the galaxy."

With that, Benezia shut off the terminal, and headed back to the door, using the panel on the side to unlock it and make it open for her.

As it opened, she saw on the other side, standing there, was a human sized being, wearing a power suit, that was a shining blue, with lines of neon green pattern over it, his helmet having one large green line right down the middle of it.

"Sylux."

Benezia had heard of this Terminus bounty hunter before. He wore a power suit that was stolen Galactic Federation technology, a prototype that was to be a stand-in for the Chozo created ones. What he also stole, which was installed in the suit, was the Shock Coil, a prototype arm cannon weapon, that was going to be, at one point, handed to Samus for testing, but it never got there.

He was a terror in the Federation, a being who hated any that stood with them. He had a heavy hated stance towards Samus for that, and during one incident in the days of her bounty hunting, she and Sylux clashed several times. The other hunters during that time, that were lured in like Sylux and Samus, didn't intend to kill Samus or each other. Sylux had his own plans and goal.

After that, he was known for keeping direct tabs on Samus' whereabouts. He was even suspected for the being the one who told the pirates about the Ceres Station, where the baby Metroid was handed over to.

When 'Samus Aran' went off the radar to the galaxy, Sylux seemed too as well. Benezia had heard about his odd arrivals to Illium, an Asari owned world, from time to time, but no one managed to keep track of him.

Then, he appeared, after Eden Prime. He appeared in his vessel before the dreadnought that Saren and Benezia had used to travel around, Sarens unique vessel. He contacted Saren, and spoke of an agreement, as he knew Samus was going to be on their trail now. He wanted to help, so long as he got what he wanted…Benezia, a part of her, couldn't help but feel Sylux had something in mind with all this information, and his sudden reappearance just after they found Samus on Eden prime…

Sylux spoke, sounding like a deep, white caucasian human, through his helmet. "Has the queen given you what you needed?"

Benezia nodded.

"Then I expect the information I want soon. Samus approaches, and I don't expect my cutting the power of peak 15's core stopping her for long."

* * *

Rachni. Of all the things to be here.

Samus and Wrex alike knew this goddamn species. For Wrex, a few thousand years ago his kind fought them off and drove them to almost total extinction. For Samus, she's met these fuckers three times, three small colonies, all wiped out by her. She refused to give them quarter back in the day.

They were a terror in this galaxy, and the bounty for destroying any possible colonies of them always dwarfs most other bounties by a large margin. The colonies normally had alpha males that kept them alive and active. Luckily without a queen, they haven't got widespread again.

To their annoyance, this means this must be another colony that's struggling, and decided to visit this station just as they came here.

Samus has just blasted yet another one of the creatures, as it reared it's ugly head through one of the vents of the computer core room. She was sitting on the floor, holding her rifle ready after the creature disappeared from view, and knowing then, it was dead, relaxed a little.

She was close by the now fixed computer core of Peak 15, which they found after waddling through several groups of annoying Geth, and around three large batches of these insects from hell. With her, standing up and keeping an eye out, was Garrus, who did aim for the Rachni that just appeared, but Samus got there first.

Armstrong was fiddling with the computer core itself, trying to get information out of it's VI and it's memory banks. He showed his competence earlier by sorting out the core and getting it back online for them, while they took out the aliens. Despite his uselessness with his power suit, he knows his computers pretty damn well so long as their designed to be hacked and tampered with by humans.

When the VI was fixed, it informed them that the landlines of this location needed to be put back online, and so did the reactor. Ashley decided, much to Samus' annoyance, that she, Kaidan and Liara handle the reactor core, while Wrex and Tali go and deal with the landlines.

Samus was thinking about how many ways there are to deal with Ashley for stepping over her and Kaidan in the current chain of command. Her thoughts of dealing with that woman were disturbed by Garrus, as he spoke whilst keeping a look out. "Samus, what was Zebes like?"

Samus looked at him, frowning.

"I'm just curious. We've got nothing better to do at the moment while the others are busy, and we Turians didn't get to see that world much when it belonged to the Chozo."

Samus moved herself back a little, leaning on a wall, lowering her rifle, after listening carefully for anymore possible Rachni. When she was sure it was all clear, she talked. "What do you know of it?"

Garrus walked over, and stood nearby. "To be honest, little. I heard about minor things of it from your reports, not much in the way of details on the planet itself. Turian explorers who managed to land on that planet decades ago left records about its natural beauty. They said about the Chozo, their respect for nature, very small information on the wildlife…they obviously expected the Chozo to allow them to keep coming back and make more detailed reports, but of course that never happened."

Samus looked to the floor, thinking for a time, before looking ahead. "If you only saw the surface of the world, what we called Crateria, you would see a mostly barren planet. Time had been cruel to our world, but she pushed on, a few forests that adapted to the harsh climate remain, a few small areas of grassland, but they are very far, and very much apart. You had to adapt to survive it, something that I had to do, what all the Chozo had already done. The acid rain always irritated my skin, but I heard stories of Humans who attempted to walk on it without their suits…and their skin would be red and raw within minutes of a downpour."

"In our skies, you had two moons, one of them was the size of a small planet. Beneath, you had the grand caverns. Our entire world was a maze underneath. Old Bird and the other elder Chozo had named all the areas, the one we lived in was called Chozodia, closest to the surface, several parts of it revealed to the skies. Our home mostly. Next you had Brinstar, a underground tropical forest filled with creatures and plants that required no sunlight to survive, and either were carnivorous, or they simply had the ability to chemosynthesis. Two seasons of illuminative green and warmth, followed by two seasons of brown and red. Brinstar Depths eventually lost a large amount of it's plantation, and remained a dead zone for all the years the planet had left."

"On level with Brinstar, you had Maridia. An aquatic place, filled with quicksand, lethal fish life…and some of the most wonderful views, if you wore the right gear. The ground shimmered, the plant life flowed beautifully…you could sit there for hours on end, watching the place. The Chozo weren't the greatest fans of it, but I always found peace there. Next lower down in the depths of our world was the first Tourian. It was the main underground location for the Chozo's research…and Mother Brain, before and after she went rogue. It was mostly damaged and abandoned after I first destroyed that bitch."

"Then along came Tourian two, even lower. This was entirely created by the Space Pirates during their occupation of Zebes. After I heavily crippled them with the death of Mother Brain, everyone assumed they fled and headed elsewhere, the Alliance sent several scouting groups to check…none of them returned, and reports showed the pirates were still clamped down on Zebes, determined as ever. While I was away dealing with other parts of their force, the Federation, as you probably know, decided to just monitor the planet instead of moving in…giving the pirates time to make a second base, and bring back Mother Brain. They also decided to install enough explosives to be injected into the core of the planet should Mother Brain fail again…guess what happened?"

Garrus chuckled a little at that. "Yes well, you're rather gifted for getting planets taken out."

Samus smiled a little at his remark, then continued. "Then, there was Norfair, the deepest parts of the caverns. The heat was impossible for most life to survive in, only the most adaptive, the most able, lived in that location. The Chozo once heavily occupied the place, used it as a training ground years before I arrived, but they abandoned it due to the fact too many were being killed through the trails, to the point their population was visibly showing signs of depletion….Ridley used that place as his hideout, and it was the hardest area for me to get through, as I had to be extra cautious to avoid damage to my suit, and had to get upgrades just to survive, the standard power armour of the Chozo can't withstand the heat of the caverns, much less the lava that was in the areas."

"So, when did the Chozo arrive on that planet?" Garrus asked.

The commander took a moment to think. "According to Old Bird, it was mere years after they left their own homeworld, called Nest. He told they had followed a signal, which was left by the Protheans for them, so their temple texts proclaimed back on Nest. There was a mysterious wrecked vessel on the surface, and that was suppose to be from the time of the Protheans, the very thing that sent out a signal for them to follow. That ship was still there when I grew up, though now obviously in a bad state of decay and flora covering it, and both Old Bird and Gray Voice forbade me from ever going near it."

"Did you?" The Turian was interested.

"Years later, during my mission to stop Mother Brain a second time. It had nothing but the spiritual residue of ghosts, that seemed to try and make me leave, but once I killed Phantoon, they vanished. It was just freaky as while I was trekking through it…weirdest thing I recall, is the robots, walking cylinder men, unable to fight, to talk, or do anything but walk around. I'm assuming age has damaged all of their functions bar the one, but still, The Protheans were a strange bunch…"

"Hey, we're back. Line's all fixed now"

The voice was of Wrex, as he and Tali walked in from the lift leading to the outside area where the landlines were.

"Good work. VI, what's the status now?" Armstrong was crouched down inside the computer core, fiddling about. Nearby him, was an image of a humanoid woman, manifested by data particles, a VI, Virtual Interface. This one belonged to Peak 15. Samus got up from her position, and walked over to where Tali and Wrex were, along with Garrus.

"Landlines are restored, reactor is now back online. Access to the Rift Station of Peak 15 is now operational. User alert. The decontamination area is occupied by hostile creatures, tram access unavailable until hostiles are dealt with." The VI droned out.

Wrex sighed in annoyance. "More Rachni of course. I thought those few we dealt with up there wouldn't be the last ones Tali. Come on, let's go clear a path before the other three get back."

Tali nodded, preparing the shotgun she was carrying, and started to leave with the Krogan, who then stopped as he and the Quarian were getting close to the door leading to the trams, and looked at Garrus. "You wanna tag along Turian? It'll help keep your gunning skills in good shape. Armstrong can take care of the hunter for ya." He chuckled after finishing that, noticing Samus glaring.

Garrus was unsure, but Samus gave him a dismissive wave, hinting to him to just go. Once he and the other two left, Armstrong had moved away from the core a little, stretching his back after bending down for so long. " Okay, that should give you all the access of your memory banks…So, VI, when did the Rachni actually show up? Any info on that?"

Samus made her way round, standing near him, as the VI turned to face them. "Species named 'Rachni' are the bioforms experimented on within this facility. They have been here for 2 years, 7 months and 18 days to current date."

Armstrong and Samus looked horrified at this answer. "Hold on, so this isn't a stray colony on a rampage? These are experimented beings that have gone crazy?" Armstrong really wished he followed the Luminoth now.

"That is correct." The VI answered.

"How the hell did they manage to herd an entire colony of Rachni in this place? Were they all frozen in the ice or something?" Samus questioned, just as Ashley, Kaidan and Liara walked in from the reactor core area.

"They are spawned from a Queen." The VI responded.

Samus wasn't sure if she heard that right either. "Did…did you say a Queen? As in a Rachni, Queen?"

"Correct."

It was the Metroids all over again. Species on the verge of destruction, the Federation or those connected to it find a way to revive the species…and they get a queen, making a high risk chance of an outbreak and utter chaos wherever it is. This was all that they needed right now. Samus cursed in Chozo to herself, as the three who had returned walked over.

"Samus, did, we just hear that right? There's a Rachni Queen around?" Liara looked worried.

"Yep. Experiments gone wrong, Probably a queen egg they managed to find somehow, despite the odds. Correct?" Samus looked to the VI.

"Correct."

"Oh typical. Well we need to stop the Rachni, and that most likely means the Queen. Alright let's get moving. Wrex, Garrus and Tali are just clearing out a few pests on the way to the transport station. We'll go and meet them, head over to the Rift Station, and deal with this problem, and Benezia, probably both at once."

* * *

Rift Station.

Eerily silent. Distant machines humming. The odd faint cry of a Rachni.

God this started to remind Samus more of her hunting days now.

There was three doorways before them, after the waiting room for the tram. All with signs explaining what they lead to. One appeared to be in a lock down state, as there was lights over the steel doors, two were green, one, red.

Their two options were 'The Hot Labs' and 'Barracks'. the locked one, 'Quarantine Lab.'.

Armstrong had taken the time before, just before they departed to this place, to ask the VI about where Benezia might be. According to it, Benezia is in the Quarantine Lab. Due to it's locked down status, the only way through is via the Barracks. It was obvious where they should go.

Ashley decided something else. The Hot Labs could be where the Rachni Queen is. So gave the suggestion of splitting up. Samus, Garrus and Armstrong check the Hot Labs, while the others go through the Barracks and handle Benezia.

"It's the best way to handle things. We make sure all areas are checked, and we deal with the situation faster." Ashley had finished with.

Samus was gritting her teeth, looking away, trying to not glare darkly at Ashley for trying to overstep her again.

Kaidan though, again, agreed with Ashley. "It's a smart idea. We can get off this icy rock even faster then. Let you properly recover Shepard."

Samus was gonna have to chew him out as well after this, not so much as Ashley, but boy, she'll be making sure to get plenty of tips off Anderson about how to deal with them. She just merely nodded, to show she would accept it.

Then, there she was, standing in a lift, orange lights down the sides of it glowing on her, Armstrong and Garrus, as they headed downwards into the Hot Labs. Why it was called the Hot Labs? Samus had no clue, but she wasn't in the mood to ask.

Garrus could tell. "So….Ashley is getting on your nerves huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"Kaidan as well?"

"Really starting to."

"It could be worse. All of us could be just doing what we wanted without listening to you."

Samus didn't answer, she just stared at the doors leading off the lift, waiting.

Armstrong decided to make conversation. "So, Garrus, why is this place called a Hot Labs? Any ideas?"

Garrus looked over to the bounty hunter, looking over Samus. "Rumours are these are especially placed between glaciers on frozen worlds. Designed so that if there is a major breach, they activate pre-placed super heating charges across the area to melt the ice around the labs, letting it sink further downwards and probably into a freezing cold lake, killing everything inside….so, if it turns out there is a Queen, we'll probably be doing that."

"Sounds like we'll have plenty of time to escape at least. I don't mind that."

Garrus shook his head. "Unless the ice is already showing signs of melting, which means we'll probably get tossed down with the Queen…hey, at least we can go out knowing we most likely killed the last ever Rachni Queen."

The last ever…This made Samus feel a pang of guilt. She was off once again to guarantee an extinction of a race, just like the Metroids…until the baby, and it only made the matter worse for her when she had to kill all those spawned from it's DNA.

Now they were all dead.

Could she do it again? Guarantee another extinction? It wasn't part of her mission, the Rachni are seen as a general threat but do they deserve to go from advance space faring race to total wipeout?

The lift finally stopped, the doors opened, to reveal a steel floored hall, with glass panels as walls, showing the glacier they were inbetween, and down below, the lab areas itself, several small buildings and areas designed for experimenting. What Samus right away noticed, was the fact they didn't go down to the actual labs, the lift stopped them here, at some kind've checkpoint.

Then, as they got off the lift, they noticed a single metal chair, and a human male, sitting on it, staring quietly ahead, looking tired, exhausted and miserable. He was wearing a white overall, which, one arm and around the shoulders, was purple. His clothing suggested he was a scientist or at least a researcher.

Beyond the man, was a small room, with several computer panels, and a device on the floor, which allowed the VI to appear. It was all just…quiet, down here.

Samus walked over to the man. "I take it we need to get security clearance to go down deeper in the Hot Labs?"

The man looked up at her from his chair, as if noticing her for the first time. He spoke with a Russian accent. "You, you are from outside this place, yes? What are you doing down here?"

"Trying to get into the Hot Labs. We want to deal with the Rachni Queen."

The man shook his head. "No, no the Queen is not down there. Rachni, many Rachni are though. We placed them there, tried to contain them. Grave mistake."

Samus sighed. "Yeah, having them around altogether was a mistake. So where is the damn Queen then?"

The man looked down to the ground. "Other labs. Not here. This place is where all the Rachni workers and warriors are. Needs to be destroyed, but, I can't do it. I have code to activate Neutron Purge to destroy them, but, I can't."

Neutron Purge, bursts of radiation to wipe out everywhere in the area. B.S.L station had this available in most of it's sectors, but as luck had it, it could never be activated thanks to constant malfunctions. "If you have the code, then it'll be smart to just use it and destroy them."

"I can't. Others may still be alive down there, maybe not, maybe yes, I can't just kill them. Friends, I saw plenty die down there, torn apart, unable to get away, had to run, had to block off elevator to save myself, but they might be still alive, might still be able to help them, but Rachni would not spare them, they are most likely dead yes? But I part of me knows they are not, or it does but I am alive, so they must be right? Can't be dead, so can't kill them, can't kill those I was suppose to protect, can't take their lives, but also cannot allow Rachni to leave, but after seeing my wife being eaten, is there hope for others? I don't know, I can't let them die, they might still live, if they do, I cannot kill, I have to hope, hope and wait, but then Rachni may come, then I will have to kill, but if I kill them, I also kill friends, I can't kill them, I have to wait, but I cannot allow the elevator to go down-"

Garrus joined Samus now. "Shepard his in a state of shock. It's obvious seeing those he knew killed by the Rachni has effected his mind. Gently speak to him, get the code out of him and we'll help him leave with us."

Samus agreed, and was about to speak to the man again, when her com device went off. "Commander this is Alenko, had any trouble so far on your end?"

"Got a survivor here of the Rachni infestation. You?"

The commander heard gunfire in the background as Kaidan spoke. "Survivors too, but they know we're trying to reach Benezia, they started attacking us as soon as we entered the Barracks. We're slowly putting them down, but it's gonna be a little while yet. Just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Yeah, we're just gonna sort out the critters here then-"

Samus stopped, as she saw the once survivor she had, just get dealt a fatal blow, through his back, out of his chest. He had been suddenly impaled, by a Rachni tendril, the Rachni had come up through a part of the flooring, and decided to target the guy with his back to it, easily ripping through the chair at the same time.

"…Commander? Shepard what is it?" Kaidan asked, worried now.

All Samus, Garrus and Armstrong did, was aim their weapons, and gunned the creature down, just after it flew it's recent victim aside, easily dispatching it before it did anything else. The silence was obviously getting to Kaidan, as Samus could hear him repeat the question. She answered her device again. "Sorry about that. The survivor is now dead. Rachni got him. We'll talk later." With that, she disconnected the call, walking over to the now dead researcher.

'Brilliant, just brilliant.' she thought to herself. She bent down and started checking his pockets.

"Samus? Whadda doing?" Armstrong was curious

"Seeing if this guy was smart enough before his breakdown to keep a data pad. It might have the code to trigger the Neutron Purge. We need to make complete sure these Rachni die off." After saying that, she pulled out from one of the pockets, a data pad, and quickly started accessing it, skimming over the reports on the Rachni, looking for that code…

…she found it.

Standing up, she begun to walk over to the small room nearby, with the other two in tow. "Come on, we got work to do."

Armstrong looked baffled to Garrus, who seemed to understand. "If that Rachni managed get in here, that means we'll have others following soon from the labs below. They probably heard the lift and got stirred by that."

Just as he said that, a screech was heard behind them, both Armstrong and Garrus turned, seeing another Rachni Warrior appear. One perfect headshot, and it was down thanks to the Turian and his sniper rifle. Soon, more screeches were being heard, meaning plenty more were on the way. "Samus, we'll handle the Rachni, hurry up with the Neutron Purge!"

Samus understood, heading to the VI panel, and turning it on, while she heard her two companions open fire, as panels in the other room were heard being knocked apart. "VI, I need access to the Neutron Purge, now!"

The VI appeared before her. "I'm sorry, access to that emergency program, is restricted to personnel only-"

Samus quickly looked at the data pad, noticing there wasn't a code or anything to bypass this. "Okay shut it. I'm a spectre, check the logs of Noveria, a spectre by the name of Samus Shepard. That's me. I need access because most of the personnel are now dead!"

"Accessing….accessing…confirmed. Welcome Samus Shepard. What would you like to do-"

"Neutron Purge, Hot Labs, now please!"

"Accessing…Please confirm authorize code."

Samus checked the data pad once more. "Authorization code 875-020-079."

"Hey Samus, wanna hurry up? These guys are getting really numerous really fast!" Armstrong shouted, as he fired several energy shots into one of the Rachni, that tried to spit some sort of acid on his suit.

The VI took a amount to process the code. "Code accepted. Please depart from Hot Labs. Purge will commence in two minutes."

Samus just turned and ran, shooting past Garrus and Armstrong, who quickly noticed her and ran towards the lift, like she was, the Rachni tried to get in the way, but most either received a few bullets to their limbs to slow them down, or, as Samus did to one that stood right in the way, receive the butt of her gun right in it's skull, before being kicked aside.

She got in the lift, quickly followed by the other two, and smashed her hand on the console, the door closing just before one of the Rachni could follow, and the lift quickly begun to head upwards.

She was panting, leaning on one of the lift walls, as was Armstrong and Garrus.

"Okay, okay, could you please, PLEASE, warn me the next time we have to run?" Armstrong managed to say.

Samus was just as exhausted. "I couldn't, slow, slow down, had to make sure we got out of there as quick as, with only two, minutes before the place gets blasted with radiation. This lift isn't the fastest thing you know."

It seemed to struggle, as it went back up, especially once the two minutes past, and the lights flickered inside it, the lift seemingly coming to a momentary halt, as explosions were heard in the depths, before it slowly started heading upwards again. Samus was glad the Rachni were dealt with down there, but whilst skimming the data pad earlier, she noticed that the researcher who died down there, kept regretting their choice to separate the Rachni from the Queen.

She decided to have another look, as the lift continued. Reading for the lines she saw that on, and once found, begun reading it properly.

And now understood what she did was right…according to reports, the Rachni had become mindless without the Queen, they needed her as they grew…and without her, they were lost, frightened probably, explaining their mindless attacks on anything that moves. It was best to euthanize them. These reports seem to be before the man was just writing down the killings the creatures caused over and over, seemingly stuck in a state of shock.

She dropped the pad to the floor, discarding it, knowing it was no longer of any use. She wanted to deal with Benezia and the Queen now…get off this icy world.

Once the lift returned to the tram terminal point, she noticed the door to the Quarantine labs was still locked, and headed towards the Barracks, activating her com device. "Kaidan this is Shepard. Why haven't you got into the labs yet?"

No answer.

This made her pick up the pace, heading through and arriving what seemed to be set up defensive chokepoint just before the Barracks itself, dead Rachni corpses were laying around, and a corpse of one turian, wearing black armor, with the logo of the company Binary Helix.

She, Armstrong and Garrus quickly pressed on, into the main area itself, which was a massive hallway, with several paths branching off, leading to dormitories, medical areas, and one which was pretty much an alternate route to the quarantine labs. The door that led to the labs had opened just as they came in, and walking in, was someone Samus really didn't expect to see, quickly pulling out her rifle, Garrus ready with his sniper rifle and Armstrong with his arm cannon. "Sylux!"

The armoured bounty hunter stopped dead in his tracks, at one end of the hallway, whilst Samus and the others stood at the opposite end, between them, two small sets of stairs, several metal crates, with burnt marks on them showing there was a fight here before and several guard corpses, hinting to what Kaidan and the others had to fight through before them.

"Well well, Samus Aran…oh wait, it's 'Shepard' now, isn't it? My apologies. I forgot you wanted to try and hide away now." Sylux said in a sarcastic manner.

"The hell are you doing here Sylux? What's your game now?" Samus knew Sylux's stalking of her. She often found out that whenever she got ambushed on a bounty mission, he would be behind it, he always seemed to know where she was, seeing him after so many years just made her wish of all the people she could of thrown off her scent with the name change, it would've been him.

"I'm simply just collecting information. Saren is proving to be quite useful for that. What are you doing here? Trying to destroy another planet after so long?"

"Saren!? Your working with him!?"

Sylux chuckled a little, having not bothered to even raise his arm cannon yet. "He's a temporary ally. I'm merely using him for a greater cause. Now, if you don't mind? I need to be going. Benezia seems to be preoccupied with your friends in the labs, and I haven't got the time to help her out in killing them, her and her asari commandos are going to have to try by themselves."

Samus took a few steps forward, holding her rifle at the ready, glaring at the bounty hunter. "You are not going anywhere."

"And you believe you can defeat me?"

The commander seemed to hesitate then, looking down in doubt for a moment, before quickly focusing again, trying to keep at glare on the hunter, with Garrus and Armstrong coming up to support her. Samus knew what he meant though. That power armor of his was exceptional… and his arm cannon, the Shock Coil…it had two settings, the one the Federation had recorded about, where if a target gets close, it can be continuously fired like a minigun, and while striking a target, can absorb the kinetic energy of the target's shielding and armour to restore the shielding of Sylux's. The other one, one that he showed during their first encounter, was the long range setting. It delivered a powerful shock blast on contact. If the target wasn't shielded, at the maximum setting, it was fatal instantly, as it fried the being inside out.

He gave her a harsh time in the past, in her prime days, fit as anything, Chozo armor fully powered…she struggled then to stop him…a part of her begged herself as to why she thought she could do it now. "I can't see the harm in trying."

Sylux shock his head, a loud sigh coming from him, before he suddenly aimed his arm cannon, the tip glowing green, causing Samus to quickly get behind one of the crates, as a green streak of energy fired out and hit the ground where she was, particles of green sparkling electricity left behind from the blast impact, her allies quickly followed suit, as Sylux aimed at them, Garrus managing to fire a few rounds before ducking down behind a crate.

The energy shots seem to merely ricochet off the hunters armour, hitting either the ground or the ceiling. Samus quickly stood up and fired off a hail of bullets, as Sylux seemed to lazily allow, still standing there, and as the bullets flew off his armour into the hallway, he aimed his cannon and fired again, just missing Samus's head as she ducked back down, noticing the green glow of the shot flow past above.

Garrus tried again, making sure to aim right for the head. But again, his bullets seem to be worthless, as they bounced off, leaving no mark, making him duck down again. "What kind of shielding is that? There's no visible sign that we're effecting it!"

Samus looked over to Sylux briefly, and quickly run across from where she was, shooting as she went, over to Garrus and hid with him, as another green wave of energy just hit's the crate where she and the Turian were now. "Cyclonic Barrier Shielding. His shield is constantly rotating and shifting, hence why our shots are being deflected off. It's one of the Federation prototypes he stole. Thought the bastard would have it damaged by now…only way I managed to get through it was with the wave beam. We need to disable a couple of the emitters on his suit to reset the system and make his shielding revert to a more standard type."

"Got any idea how?" Garrus asked, noticing then that Armstrong had tried a few shots at Sylux, only to then duck back down in blind panic, when three streaks of green energy flew at him.

Samus was thinking, and fast. Grenades were worthless here, the blasts would be easily deflected away. Their weapons are pretty much useless, only the Chozo tech she used to have managed to get through…she cursed in the bird tongue. "We need to keep hammering his shields, we have to, alright? That's the only way we'll get our chance to beat him. We need to."

Garrus nodded. "Alright, lemme try again then." He stood up, aimed…and suddenly shook, as if he was having a fit.

Sylux had shot him directly in the torso. The kinetic shielding that Garrus had was fried in an instant the moment the green energy hit, and his armour system had suffered a major power surge, as evident by Garrus hitting the floor, with brief surges of green electric energy flowing over him. He was alive still, evident when the green particles faded away, leaving a rather shocked turian, but he struggled to recover from the hit.

Armstrong had got up to try and shoot Sylux next, but he too, fell victim to the long range setting of the Shock Coil, his shielding gone in a flash of a second, finding himself on the floor, jittering as the energy surged around him.

Samus just stayed where she was, desperately trying to think of something, as Sylux called out to her. "Shepard, how does it feel now? How does it feel to be weak and worthless without that suit of yours? Stuck, with an infection toiling around inside your body? Forced to take medication to survive each day? How does it feel to have fallen so far Shepard?"

Samus gritted her teeth, bracing herself, her mind and body filling with rage from his taunting and relaxed stance in this battle, before coming out from her hiding spot, rolling out into the open, firing her rifle, before standing up, and dodging a shot from Sylux's arm cannon. Then, she began to charge at him, firing her rifle constantly, ducking and weaving out of the way of the energy shots that flew by her as she drew closer to the bounty hunter, his shielding constantly deflecting the bullets.

As she drew close to him, she stopped firing, and was ready to smack him with the butt of her rifle, but all he did to stop her, was kick her right in the side, as she left herself wide open, sending her crashing to the floor, sliding a little, to the wall of the hallway, holding onto her side where he stuck, his power armour boots were quite heavy, and the sheer force he kicked her with felt like as if someone had just smacked her side with a sledgehammer.

He aimed his arm cannon at her for a moment, as she noticed, and grabbed her rifle that she had briefly dropped on the floor to hold her side, and aimed it at him, firing away, until it overheated, the warmth of the gun making her drop the rifle. All of her energy bullets just idly flew off Sylux, as he had watched her try to gun him down.

As she laid there, he laughed at her. "That's it? That's all you have now?" He lowered his arm cannon. "This is what you've become? You can't even harm me now Samus. You should've stood down and allowed me to leave next time, instead of suffering a defeat."

He slowly walked over to her, her gun still cooling down. He bent down, looking right at her, as she glared right at him in defiance. "I have business at Feros, in the Theseus system. So does Saren. If you're smart, you'll keep away from there, if you manage to leave here alive."

With that, he walked away, heading to the tram line, as Samus grabbed the rifle, cooled down and operational now, and opened fire again, holding the trigger down until the gun overheated once more, the bullets bouncing off as Sylux left, walking past Garrus, who was just starting to get up, and Armstrong, who was groaning on the floor, not wishing to move.

Samus swore, tossing the gun aside, smacking the wall with her fist, before she forced herself up, using one hand, while the other was holding her side, which still hurt quite badly. She looked over, seeing the door close as Sylux left…she failed.

That's all what was going through her mind now. She knew she was lucky to be alive, but to fail against him…

Her emotions were flaring, she angrily went over, and picked up the rifle again, holding it with one hand, and was ready to march out after Sylux. Garrus was up now, and quickly stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder, grabbing it as she was about to pass by him. "Samus, we need to focus on getting to the others-"

She shoved him away, marching on, heading through the doors. By the time she saw Sylux again, he had got on the tram, the door closed behind him, and it was starting to leave, as she saw, and rushed into the terminal room, opening fire and yelling out in anger. To her irritation, the windows on the tram were made to resist weapons fire, and all she did was waste shots, as Sylux turned, and watched her, as he slowly disappeared from view…

"AARRGGHH!" she just held on the gun, the system overheating, but this time, despite the burning pain, she held on, the burning sensation being ignored, as she just kept the trigger down, wishing it would keep firing…

She wanted to beat him, she didn't want to lose, she didn't want him to be proven right. She had to win, she had to…that was all she was thinking of, as the gun cooled, and fired again, the bullets flowing down the tube way, doing nothing…

She lowered the gun, as it overheated again…she failed…

She could only stand there, looking ahead. Her mind struggling to register this.

It was only after Garrus caught up with her, after helping Armstrong get up, that she begun to think straight again. "Samus, we need to get moving! The others are still waiting for us!"

She quickly turned, and faced him, noticing Armstrong standing close to the Turian as well, quite shaken, but alive. "We need to stop him!"

Garrus nodded, a little breathless. "Yeah, I know, but that shouldn't be our concern right now! The others are probably still trying to deal with Benezia and the Rachni Queen! We can chase him another time, okay?"

She knew he was right. She nodded, shaken, and red in the face, her hand hurting from the burns she received from the gun, but she stopped holding her side, now holding the rifle with both hands, and begun heading back through the Barracks.

* * *

Liaras reunion with her mother didn't exactly go down well.

They tried to talk with her, but the most they got from her was the fact they were interfering with her and the Rachni Queen, who was enclosed in a chamber in the middle of the labs, then a threat about Asari commandos, something that Ashley mocked and shrugged off.

That wasn't the best idea.

All five of the crewmembers of the Normandy were now huddled in one corner of the room, ducking behind steel crates, trying to fight off all of the commandos, Asari's in black leather clothing, with powerful shields, and top of the line weapons, with biotics to match.

They managed to take out two groups of them, a feat which was mostly pulled off with the help of Liara pointing out when the best time would be to attack the commandos, the times after their biotic attacks, as they needed to briefly rest…sadly that help was no longer useful, as now there was six commandos attacking them, three down one path, and three down another, along with a few geth each, who provided cover fire the moments the commandos needed to recover.

Benezia was near the middle of the room, watching the fighting behind the casing holding the Rachni Queen. She had to admit, the crew had managed to hold out pretty well, but now, their luck was running out. "Fools. You do not understand what plans you were trying to interfere with. Now you will all die, never knowing what will become of this galaxy!"

Wrex had to quickly duck down, just missing a wave of energy bullets that skimmed the top of the crate was hiding behind. He growled a little, before he looked to his shotgun, as it had suddenly stopped working for him, smacking it a few times, hoping that'll get it to function again. He quickly looked over to Liara. "She's really into whatever the hell Saren is playing at, isn't she?"

"It would seem so…and unless we find another way to defeat these asari and geth, will never be able to find out why."

Ashley had popped up from the crate she was using, firing dozens of rounds towards three of the commandos, only for them to block with barriers created with their biotics, while the geth opened fire back, causing her to hide again. "Goddamnit this is not the kind of position we need to be in! We need to surprise them and take out either those damn geth or the asari!"

The surprise came, in the form of a headshot to the back of the head one commando, her purple blood splattering across the floor as the hole formed through her skull, followed by a combined assault from energy shots out of an assault rifle and of an arm cannon, mowing down the supporting geth, and two other commandos, before they even knew what was going on.

From the entrance into this place from the Barracks, walked Samus, Garrus and Armstrong, weapons ready. "What's with the huddling into the corner there guys? Need a hand?" Samus asked, smirking as she did.

"SHEPARD WATCH OUT FOR BENEZIA!" Liara yelled. A second too late, as the matriarch was infuriated at the sudden intrusion, and used her biotic power to trap the three arrivals in a brief stasis state.

"My commandos! Slay the hunter! Slay her now!" Benezia commanded.

The remaining three asari did as they were told, moving a few steps closer to the group huddled, getting a good aim at the commander…

Only to find a Krogan charging, and slamming into one of them, and making the other two panic and move. The geth would've covered them, but they were taken out by Tali and Liara, who had taken the opportunity of Wrex's charge to catch the geth unaware.

As Wrex grabbed the head of the poor asari he had slammed into and twisted her neck causing a sickening snapping sound, the last two commandos focused on him, only to find themselves being gunned down by Kaidan and Ashley. Their hold-riddled bodies hitting the ground.

Benezia was focusing her power on the stasis, noticing soon enough that the five she had been fighting all this time till now, were closing in on her, Liara and Kaidan moved over to where Samus and the other two were, aiming their guns at Benezia, while as the matriarch heard behind her, Wrex, Tali and Ashley were now at the back, with their guns prepared too, all slowly moving towards her as she attempted to continue her stasis trap on Samus. "Fools, all of you. You cannot hope to defeat me. You cannot hope…to…"

She had suddenly shown signs of exhaustion, the assumption from the others was because of her usage of her biotics, as she suddenly let Samus, Armstrong and Garrus go. She moved back a step, then walked over towards the consoles that had been placed next to where the queen of the Rachni was held, panting, and sweating now.

Kaidan quickly checked if the commander the fine, who nodded to show she was, before they all moved in towards Benezia, all gathered at the center walkway of the room that led to where she was, as she leaned on the console. Liara, Samus and Ashley were ahead of the rest. "Alright Benezia, it's time to talk. It's obvious your alone now." Samus demanded, holding her rifle ready.

Benezia looked tired, but determined, her eyes looking to Liara, then to Samus. "You…You must…take this data pad…from me…before it takes my mind again…"

"Mother?" Liara looked worried, and was about to approach her mother, but Samus moved her arm out to stop her, as Benezia started to slowly walk over.

"I, can only resist, for so long before, the indoctrination, traps me again…" Benezia stopped near Samus, and produced a small data pad, handing it over. "This, this is the coordinates of the Mu Relay…what Saren wanted…what he has now…"

"Mu Relay?" Samus sounded surprised at this. "How did you find…?"

"Kill me." Benezia asked.

"Mother!?" Liara grabbed her mother by her shoulder, making her turn her way. "Kill you!? Why? What has Saren done to you?!"

Benezia weakly shook her head. "Not Saren…something more, more powerful…I'm sorry, my little wing." before she looked back to Samus. "Please kill me. Kill me now, before it can take me again!" She was practically pleading.

Samus looked at the matriarch with concern, before she put away her rifle, and pulled out her pistol, aiming it right at Benezias chest. "Before I pull this trigger, tell me what this thing is that's taking over your mind."

"I cannot, it, it denies me to speak its name out loud! I, I cannot! Kill me! Quickly!"

"Mother! Samus please, wait a moment! Let me try to talk to her!" Liara looked tearful, trying to get either of them to pay attention to her. Both were not.

"Give me a hint then, something, anything to assure me this is the best course of action." Samus demanded.

"W-words. Words that you will know from it…" Benezia, during these next words, seemed to stare at the commander, and to Samus, everything, everything, went quiet, all but Benezia, as the words flowed out from her mouth, her lips. "The Chozo saw the need to accelerate their plan to link the galaxy into one unified society, and decided to consolidate their data with that of the Federation…And so, I, was born."

Samus, heard more after those words, within her own mind, her eyes widening with terror and utter shock.

"_I inherited all of the Chozo's knowledge and culture."_

"_I have pushed the elders into the realm of the obsolete."_

The pistol fired, not one, twice, but three times, right into Benezias body, as she fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud, as her blood oozed from her wounds, her breathing only lasting a few moments more, before she passed, eyes open, looking to the side.

Liara was silenced by this, staring at the body of her mother, before slowly looking at Samus, who kept the gun where it was, just staring ahead.

Neither of them seemed to have noticed the fact Benezia started to briefly twitch, before rolling over, onto her stomach, and slowly, but surely, starting to stand.

Ashley had to snap the them both awake. "Excuse me, but she isn't dead!"

By now, Benezia had risen to her feet, seemingly in a trance, slowly walking over towards the chamber containing the Rachni Queen, and then, stumbling, turning herself around, before leaning back on the container, her eyes twitching, and looking at all of them, blood still slightly flowing from her wounds.

Samus aimed her pistol again, but this time, Benezia's voice sounded…different, echoes, with whispers coming from it as she spoke, whispers which could only be faintly heard by Samus and Liara. "This one, will, serve, as our, voice, we, cannot sing, to you all, as, many of you, cannot hear. Your music…colourless."

"Samus you better shoot again, seems like whatever she feared controlling her is doing it right now." Garrus quickly pointed out.

"No…No this isn't…that." Samus lowered her pistol, and slowly walked over, not to Benezia, as the others noticed, but past her, standing besides the matriarch, and looking into the glass chamber. "Music…The Chozo spoke of a species that sung during its killing, music that was terrifying, music that spelled the doom of many worlds. They called it 'The music of Suen'…It's you, isn't it. You're controlling Benezia."

"Suen, our, mothers home. The singing planet, that has been, silenced." Benezia responded.

"Oh good. The Rachni is talking to us is it? How about we shut it up?" Wrex quickly aimed his shotgun at Benezia, only for Samus to quickly move and stand in the way.

"Hold it Wrex. We'll decide things in a moment."

"Hunter just get this over with! Shoot her down, then, find a way to kill that thing!"

"Whoa now Wrex, this could be the very last queen for all we know, we can't just decide without the council's input." Garrus butted in.

"Funny, I don't recall that stopping the hunter from killing the Metroids back into extinction over and over. Rachni should be treated no different." Wrex answered, glaring at Garrus slightly. He certainly wasn't in favour of the council getting in the way.

Samus looked down to the ground on hearing that, before she focused on Benezia, as she spoke again. "Is, that one, angry because of, what we, our, people, did before?"

Samus nodded. "Yes, the Krogan bore the brunt of the war with your kind. As far as we know, you are the last…that would make you very vengeful on them, and possibly others, for the state of your species right now."

"No, no. We do not, want, revenge. A chance, to exist. That is what we, want. To sing again, to correct, the mistake, of our mothers, and ancestors, who made music of war." Benezia then seemed to spasm a fair bit, nearly falling down, before forcing herself to stay standing. "We cannot, control this life, for much longer, the ember, of her, is fading away, we, do not have, much time."

The commander looked to the Rachni Queen once more, noticed it had turned its head towards her, its many white eyes looking at her.

"Hunter, just end it now!" Wrex was getting extremely agitated now with her delaying.

Somewhere, in the depths of her mind, Samus heard the baby, it's distinctive, weak cry… "I can't."

"Shepard?" Kaidan looked to her.

"I can't kill her. This is a sentient species, not a biological weapon like the Metroids. She's shown intelligence, an ability to speak to us, and…she's alone. And frightened. Like the baby was when I…killed it's mother, killed off it's family."

"Shepard, is this really the wisest move? To spare a Rachni Queen?" Tali asked.

"I don't know. But she deserves a chance. We all would beg for the same thing if we were all in that chamber, trapped, and finding out you might be the last…"

"You would risk another war with them?!" The Krogan wanted an answer, anger showing clearly now on his face.

Samus turned to him. "Your species is already heading in the same direction as the Rachni Wrex, and I know a lot of your kind is looking for ways to survive, to be given another chance in order to escape the road to extinction! If it was a female Krogan in there, unaffected by the genophage, you would be pleading to me!"

Wrex was silent after that. He lowered his shotgun slowly. Samus wasn't sure if he was offended by what she said, or in shock, his face seemingly looked blank.

"I just can't commit another wipe out. Not when there's a hope of change…I'm going to let her go." with that, Samus turned back round, facing the queen, and walked over to the console, beginning to type on it. "You have to get out of here, find a way to leave this planet, go far, far away, and avoid Federation territory until….until one day, we can all meet, on better terms. Is that understood?"

"You are, releasing us? Then, we fully understand. Thank you. My children, will sing of you, of this day, when our species were spared, and given a light, from the darkness. Our music will, be allowed to sing again, not of war, but of peace….once again, thank, you…" with that, Benezia's eyes rolled upwards, and her body slumped back on the chamber, and slid to the ground, no longer being controlled.

Then, the chamber begun rising upwards, towards, as seen near the ceiling, a passageway created for the chamber leading outside, hopefully. Soon the chamber connected to it, stopping as it reached the passage, and the Rachni Queen turned and looked to Samus once more, and her group.

It sung. It's cries were not sharp, vicious or terrifying, but…calming, soothing…it made them all remain silent, as the queen continued it's call. Something, that Samus had heard before…

Gray Voice…

She remembered, when she was a child, in Chozodia. She had been taught about several species throughout a few weeks. The lesson were frustrating, and Gray Voice had been especially harsh on her and her struggling to remember what he had taught her. Then, one late afternoon, on the surface, the sun of the system was setting, he had her sit on one of the rooftops, and put down nearby, a holo-emitter, with showed an image, of a Rachni Queen…

And from the emitter, that same cry was being used…Gray Voice sat with her, telling her to listen, and remember, as many species can sing, and he felt the best way to remember, is by their songs…

His wrapped his arms around her, as they listened to it for most of the evening…his warmth protecting her…

Samus could feel her eyes watering, tears forming, as the queen finally stopped, and departed. To Samus, that was one memory she had almost forgotten if it was not for the queen, and if the queen knew what she had given to Samus or not, didn't matter, she was grateful regardless.

Liara though, had now walked over to her mother's body, and bent down to it, feeling her mothers cheek. "…Mother…I'll make, whatever took control of you before the Rachni, pay, for this. It and Saren, I'll make them both pay for this."

She felt Samus touch her shoulder, and look to the commander, as Samus looked down to her. "I know what did it Liara…"

* * *

"Mother Brain? Are you sure of this Shepard?"

"Positive Sparatus. What she said to me were precise words spoken by Mother Brain. She's active again."

Samus was now standing in the Normandy's meeting room, standing before the three holographic images of the council. She had given them her mission briefing, including about Sylux, Benezias fate, and the Rachni Queen.

Valern, like the other two, was deeply concerned. "Then that would mean she has survived the destruction of Zebes, and the destruction of the Bottle Ship. She is dangerously elusive for an AI. It's possible then that she is commanding Saren."

"If that's the case, she must be planning an attack on the Galactic Federation once more. We need to gather any intelligence on pirate movements, see if they're playing along with her yet again." Sparatus suggested.

Tevos then looked to Samus. "Unfortunately, while we can do this, this also means Saren has avoided us again, and we don't have any leads to give chase with."

"Actually. Sylux gave one to me. The smug bastard obviously didn't expect me to survive fighting Benezia, and said about the fact he was going to see Saren at Feros, in the Theseus system. I intend to head there as soon as possible to catch them." the commander explained.

This was an obvious sign of relief to the council, as Tevos expressed. "Good, this gives us a chance to try and get information out of Saren. Capture him alive or at least get as much information as you can on what Mother Brain is planning before taking him out."

Valern then interjected. "Whilst your dealing with him, we'll contact all of our agents across the network to try and see if there are any signs of a base Saren or Mother Brain might be using. We need to nip this at the bud. Whatever the conduit is, Mother Brain will no doubt use it to attack us."

Tevos continued. "We also need to arrange a plan to counter this threat should it show itself to the Federation. If we hear anything, anything at all, we'll let you know. You've dealt with the AI before, we have our fullest confidence in you in that you'll be able to deal with her again commander."

"Understood councillors." Samus bowed slightly to them.

Tevos and Valern then disconnected. But to the commanders surprise, Sparatus had not. "…Is there a problem, councillor?"

Sparatus seemed remain silent for a moment, before he spoke to her. "Samus, I just wanted to say I misjudged you. Six years ago, when we had you on trial, all I saw was a rash, destructive human being who merely used her raising by the Chozo, and her sparing of a baby biological weapon as an excuse to be seen as unique, when in fact, you were the same as all other humans. I felt you were a disgrace to the Chozo race, that you insulted them…I regret those thoughts now."

Samus continued to listen, curious as to his sudden confession.

"When you spoke about the Rachni Queen, I straight away expected you to report with pride that you killed her, drove her species into extinction. I'm glad you didn't. you've shown me otherwise. You let her go, if that was the best course of action, our next few generations will have to find out for themselves, but for now, I think the Chozo would be glad with your merciful approach, as I am…We'll be in touch." With that, Sparatus disconnected the call.

She smiled, glad she was making a good impression, and had left the meeting room…to find Wrex outside of it, leaning on a wall next to the door. Samus stopped just as she got out of the room, the door closing behind her, and didn't look at him.

"…Hunter. I just wanted to say you made a fair point back on Noveria. If it were a female Krogan, a normal, female Krogan, I would of pleaded to you. The idea of total extinction isn't a pretty one."

"I know." Samus nodded.

"I suppose I shouldn't of gotten so angry at you. Hell, we Krogan killed dozens of queens, one more should this turn out to be a mistake, wouldn't be so hard….you wouldn't stop me again if that was the case right?"

Samus then turned to him. "Wrex, if she turned out to be a lying alien bitch with an intent for war, I'll be coming along with you to blow her brains out."

"That's what I wanted to hear." Wrex then moved off the wall. "I'll be heading back down now to the cargo area now, if you need me."

Samus was about to say goodbye to him, but then, something came to mind…

She needed to put someone back in her place.

"Actually Wrex, I'll be coming with you. I need to have a little girl chat with Ashley again…"

* * *

"Illusive Man. I've got the Rachni data. Heading to Feros now to obtain Thorian data."

Within darkened cockpit, with only a deep blue dim light on the ceiling lighting the small location up, along with a small holographic console, sitting in a steel chair, was Sylux, the green streaks in his power armor glowing in the dark.

From the console, came a response. "Excellent work. Did you encounter Samus?"

"Of course. Also left her some breadcrumbs to follow me with. Need to keep Saren on his toes afterall."

"Good. Hopefully from there she'll be able to keep track of him without us interfering again. Once you have the Thorian data, head on back to headquarters."

"Understood."


End file.
